The Alternative Second Life of Bree Tanner
by Forksobsessed
Summary: Bree Tanner wasn't killed by the Volturi. She managed to escape the clutches of Jasper before the Volturi arrived. This is my version of events that followed her surrender and how her search for her friend leads her to South America.
1. Chapter 1 Second Chance

Authors note: I don't own Twilight, I am just obsessed with it.

Having read the novella "The short second life of Bree Tanner", I didn't want Bree to die, I thought it would have been interesting to see how Bree and Fred lived after their escape, I also wanted to follow her path of discovery as she unravels the truth about the Cullen's and their lifestyle.

Don't read this if you are expecting lots of drama and action. This is just my way of giving Bree a second chance, even though the Volturi wouldn't have, if she had stayed around long enough to find out.

Please feel free to add reviews and comments, but be gentle with me. This is my first attempt at fan-fiction, so don't expect miracles.

Chapter One SECOND CHANCE

The Volturi don't give second chances, but I was oblivious to that fact as I ran swiftly away from the horror scene, darting through the trees, narrowly avoiding the low branches of the thick forest that had surrounded the clearing. I could still smell the sweet scent of the funeral pyre even though I must have run several miles. It had been terrifying. The sharp metallic noise as the vampires clashed with each other, ripping sounds as their rock hard bodies had been torn apart and the peculiar howling I had heard, like nothing I had ever heard before. Was this some kind of battle-cry that vampires used when they were sensing victory. I didn't think so. It sounded more like a cry of pain, the sort of noise a dog would make.I wasn't sure where I was heading, I just knew I had to get away, and fast!

Of course, being a vampire I was fast, very fast. I moved effortlessly through the forest hardly touching the ground. I kept checking back over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't being followed. I knew my keen senses would normally pick up any movement around me if I were, but I wasn't feeling exactly normal at the moment, and I was paying little attention to anything other than my need to put as much distance between myself the yellow-eyed family as I could. Yes, _family_, that was what they had called themselves. This was a strange term for a coven of vampires that I couldn't really get my head around. It suggested love and trust, certainly not something I had even thought remotely possible since my creation, and not something I had witnessed as a human either if I was being honest. And yet I got the impression that this _family_ was capable of love and compassion, even thought I had spent just 5 minutes in their company before I had made my escape. I had not felt threatened by them, apart from the blond scary one with the scars, but I did not feel he would have hurt me unless he were instructed to, or allowed to maybe. He wasn't in charge. The softly spoken one with the kind eyes, the one they called Carlisle was in charge. How different he was to Riley, I shuddered at the name and brought myself to a stop suddenly as I had ran out of land. Yes, I was running from Riley rather than the yellow-eyes, running for my freedom, running from the horrific battle I had just narrowly avoided being a part of, and running from the pain of knowing that Diego was dead.

The huge expanse of water opening up in front of me was not a problem, being a vampire I was a strong swimmer. It just seemed that I had ran for long enough now and this was a suitable place to take a breather. I didn't need a breather in the normal _human_ sense of the word, I could run for hours and not need a break, but I wanted a few minutes to contemplate what I had just witnessed back there in that clearing.

I glanced around with my senses on red-alert but there was no scent or sound of any pursuit. I had chosen my escape carefully when I could see the family were distracted by the _Volturi_'s imminent approach, not that I knew what that meant, I just sensed that it was something to be afraid of.

In any case, I was pretty sure that Jasper character would surely have caught me by now if he were in a mind to. Yes, I guess the _family_ had other, more pressing things on their mind right now. An escaped newborn was hardly on the top of their priority list. Besides, maybe I had done them a favour by escaping. Now they wouldn't have to argue about me, wouldn't be their problem. The warrior "Jasper" really didn't want me around anyway, "We can't have any of these newborns associated with us when the Volturi come" he had said. Besides I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to be under his watchful supervision for the foreseeable future any more than I had wanted to remain with Riley's miscreants. Not that I was comparing Riley to Jasper. There was no comparison. Riley was a thug, and a liar.

Riley had lied, about pretty much everything, but I was also sure he had been lied to by our creator, or at least she had decided not to tell him any more than he needed to know. I recalled our last brief conversation and decided yes, Riley had been betrayed too, but that didn't overwhelm me with sympathy for him.

I briefly paused to consider where they had gone. Had he found _her_, or was he still wandering around searching for her scent, not realising he had served his useful purpose? I smiled to myself as I imagined her running wild somewhere, laughing at how she had created such havoc in the area surrounding Seattle in such a short space of time, and then disappeared without trace. What if he _had _found her, if she _had_ been waiting for him? Unlikely, but I needed to consider it. Would they come looking for me if they uncovered my recent scent fleeing from the scene of the fight, or had they disappeared long before the fighting even started? As they were virtually unaware of my existence I decided they would not give me a thought, and even if Riley recalled our last encounter he would probably just assume I had been killed along with the rest of his soldiers.

No, I firmly believed she would not have waited for Riley and she would have been rather pleased with herself for shaking him off. He had been useful at first, but at the end, when his purpose had been served, he would have become just an annoyance. I wondered if she knew the outcome of the fight, wondered if she would return if she knew her little army had failed, wondered if she would reassemble another army and try again. I recalled the threat from the cloaked characters. She had been given 5 days to achieve her goal or they were going to seek her out and burn her. I guessed she was in hiding then, and would be for a very long time.

One thing was for sure, I was not going to hang around to find out. I wasn't sure which scared me the most, _her_ or the cloaked characters.


	2. Chapter 2 Fred

Chapter two FRED

Right, I needed to focus now. Plenty of time for my idle thoughts later. I needed to find Fred. As much as a part of me wanted answers to my unending questions about the yellow-eyed family and the Volturi, and other possible enemies in my new world, I was very conscious that I had to get to Vancouver before Fred moved on to pastures new. He said he would give me one day and I had no reason to believe that he would hang around to wait any longer. He knew the area, had told me that he had spent some time there and he was going to leave me a trail to the ironically named Riley Park. But I needed to get there before 24 hours had elapsed as he had a desire to travel the world and with his magical invisible shield I would probably never find him again. I contemplated the ridiculous notion that he was the only friend I had in the world. I was little more than a stranger to him and yet he had protected me on more than one occasion and I probably owed my life to him.

Strange then that an uneasy acquaintance that had been stuck up while living under impossibly dangerous conditions should be all I had to cling on to at the moment. It was full of uncertainties, but hadn't my whole life been so. In any case, it wouldn't be a bad thing to hang out with someone who could repel others so easily when for all I knew I was top of the wanted vampires list.

I had a vague sense that I was travelling in the right direction for Vancouver, I had left the battle-site in the clearing near Forks and had travelled North and then mostly East for a while. I think the subconscious thought to find Fred had propelled me in the right direction. I was thirsty though, the pain in my throat had reached an unbearable level and I would need to satisfy this before I travelled much further. I decided against taking a detour to Seattle to feed because if any of my enemies were looking for me that is probably where they would assume that I would go. They had no idea of Fred's intentions, nor would they find him. If Riley had been paying attention he would have noticed me talking to Fred before we set off for battle and he may eventually put two and two together, but I smiled to myself when I remembered that Fred was so repulsive to Riley that he probably wouldn't have been able to look in that direction anyway so he wouldn't have noticed. I was pretty sure Riley was still looking hopelessly for his mate anyway. No, I must find whatever I could to satisfy my thirst en route.

I reached Vancouver during the night. I wasn't sure what time it was, but the sun had been down for several hours. Under the cover of night I had surprised a couple of vagrants in one of the small towns I had passed through. That satisfied my thirst and I doubted they would be missed. Now all I needed to do was find Fred's trail. I was surprised I hadn't crossed it on my journey, but on reflection, I hadn't exactly been following the main road and there were so many different ways Fred could have gone. He might even have swum there. I headed for the city centre. That was surely the place to find a park.

Once within the city centre I was able to easily pick up Fred's scent just as he promised. It occurred to me then that he had probably been using his useful _disguise_ while he had travelled to Vancouver, to prevent anyone else from following him. Only I had been privy to the direction he was heading. I followed it through several streets where the humans were sleeping peacefully in their beds. I wasn't thirsty anyway at this moment in time so I paid little attention, focusing instead on the trail he had left for me.

I reached Riley Park just as the sun was beginning to rise. Now what? Keep following the trail, but it veered off to another part of the city. OK so Fred had made a detour, probably to feed. Maybe I would find him in a dark alley somewhere satisfying is thirst, or maybe I should wait here for him to return? No, it was a huge park and I figured I should stick to the scent. Hopefully he wouldn't be far away and he would hear me coming. I was no longer afraid that I would burn under direct sunlight, but the fast approaching sunrise gave off the feel of a sunny day and I didn't relish the idea of being caught in the bright sunlight once the humans started emerging from their slumber. My sparkling skin would be a dead giveaway and I had broken enough rules already. My sheer existence was against the rules. I remembered Carlisle had said that during our brief encounter when he had been discussing the Volturi with his family. It appeared I didn't really belong anywhere. The human world thought we were abhorrent and the vampire world disapproved of us too. Yes, we were outcasts. I had my doubts that the Volturi, whoever that was, would not have allowed me to live had I not made my escape.

I was tracking Fred's sent, absent-mindedly wondering what we would do, where we would go. I had no former travelling experience so I would let Fred choose. Maybe we would hang out here for a while. I had no particular preference either way. How could I when I had spent my whole life in the slums of Seattle? Anything was better than that and besides I was glad to be alive, if that was the correct term for someone like me. I was lucky to be alive!

I stopped to consider how many near-death experiences I had encountered during my short second life. I had somehow survived three months of terror living with the rest of Riley's newborn army with their petty but often terminal squabbles. Fred had been my saviour on several occasions while I cowered behind him sucking in his repelling aura. Most of the time I had appeared invisible to the trouble-makers. If it weren't for Fred I would have been an easy target for some of those bully boys. Diego had later saved me from Riley (and sacrificed himself in the process) by not revealing our little secret sortie, well, I assume that was what had happened. I felt a twinge of sadness as I thought about Diego. I would never know the truth because Diego was dead. That much I was sure of. Diego was dead and Riley had lied, a lot.

I had faced death again in the battle field, but Carlisle had saved me, offered me peace in exchange for surrendering the fight. I owed a lot to Carlisle and decided I would thank him one day. I hoped that his family had escaped unscathed from their encounter with the Volturi. I was in the middle of pondering who or what the Volturi was when a hand caught me by the throat and I was dragged backward into a side alley. I was so terrified and taken aback it took me what seemed like a whole minute, but was actually only about half a second, to wonder why I hadn't sensed the approach. Fred.

"Shhhhhhh," the husky voice said.

"What the ...?" I managed to get out before he spun me round so I could face him.

"It's ok, it's me, Fred," he whispered.

"Yeah I know, but you didn't need to startle me like that."

"Sorry, I had turned on my repulsion charm and forgot to turn it off before I approached you."

I could see he was unsettled about something so I added, "why, what's the matter?"

"Not sure, but I sense that we are not alone." He paused to sniff the air and then added, "Vampires. Can you smell them?"

I looked the general direction he had gestered, lifting my nostrils to detect any scent but there was nothing, well nothing from the supernatural world anyway. A car drove past and I picked up the sweet scent of humans and heard their heartbeats, but I was not too interested in them at the moment.

"No matter," his gruff voice said in little more than a whisper ."Maybe they went the other way, being repulsive has its advantages."

"They? How many?" I asked.

"Only two, but that is two too many, the last thing we want is to be treading on someone else's toes, feeding on their patch."

It turns out he had been doing exactly that!

The two vampires had startled him, disturbing his feed and he had turned on his heels and ran.

"I guess my repulsiveness must have thrown them off my track," he was smiling now. "I figured if you were joining me then I would need to get back to the park to warn you before you decided to quench your thirst here. I got back to the park and caught your scent so I followed it." He hesitated and then peering around as if to look behind me, "Only you?"

"What?" and then I realised I was supposed to have been bringing Diego. "Oh yeah, I think Diego is dead." I knew he was dead. Sadness filled me again as I thought of Riley's sadistically tearing Diego limb from limb, bit by bit. I shuddered.

"yeah, I'm sorry kid. I had a feeling..."

"Why didn't you say?"

"Well, I figured you were a bit sweet on him and you would be angry, maybe you wouldn't have believed me, but I knew you wouldn't have wanted to leave with me until you knew for sure," he was looking at me apologetically now, "you would have always been wondering."

"Fairly sure Riley killed him the other night when he came back all fired up, before he gave us the battle speech."

"Yeah, figures..." and now he put his arm around me in a comforting way and we headed back in the direction of the park. "So, we have to get out of here, not worth the risk of upsetting the local coven, I ran away from Forks to avoid doing that. Where shall we go?"

"Don't mind. Anywhere."

"OK, me neither, but we need to find a hiding place until sundown."

And we set off, together, keeping to the shadows, his arm around me looking for shelter from the blistering sun.

His local knowledge came in handy. It wasn't long before we found a disused garage. The broken door fell open with one light touch, the rusty padlock falling to the floor. Even a human would not have had a problem with it.

He listened intently while I relived the events of the previous day, the massacre I had witnessed, the kindness of the yellow-eyed clan, the mysterious howling of the other fighters I had heard, the way I had used the distraction of the Volturi to escape the otherwise watchful glare of the blond haired warrior. I described each memory in detail because it helped me to put the pieces together. He asked what a Volturi was.

"I don't know, but they seemed pretty scared of it, even the brave blond who was guarding me was scared."

"Hmmmm I wonder..."

"What?"

"Well, after I broke off from the rest of you I was heading back through the forest to Seattle, the way we came to the log cabin the other night, and I caught the scent of vampires." He moved closer to me now, presumably so he could whisper. Sometimes it was hard for vampires to remember how appallingly bad human hearing was, and even if there had been a human within 100 yards, and I was quite sure there wasn't, they wouldn't hear anyway, they couldn't. Human hearing was virtually non-existent. The thought made me smile but I listened as he continued, hoping that he might reveal the answer to at least one of my questions.

"I didn't want to be detected of course, for all I knew it was Riley or one of his thugs sent to find me."

"I don't know if Riley even realised you were gone!"

"No, poor fool, he couldn't even look at me could he?" he laughed a little and then continued with his story. "Anyway, I knew they were about to cross my path so I climbed up into the trees and took a different route around them. I turned on my _charm_ and waited for them to pass. They were discussing the numbers Victoria had assembled for her battle and what they were going to do about any surviving newborns. "_They can't be allowed to survive,_" one of them had said. They all seemed in agreement on this. "_Victoria has served us well, but she must also be taken out of the equation,_" and then another one in agreement had added, "_Yes, we don't want a repeat of this. Besides, she knows too much and we cannot afford any indiscretion._" That was about all I managed to catch apart from something about wanting and end to this once and for all and swiftly so they could return home and report the matter closed."

"Victoria?" I asked. I had many questions but this was the most urgent.

"Yes, _her_ I presume, our creator."

"Well, at least she has a name now." I was relieved that it seemed probable that she would not be allowed to survive, although I still didn't know how they would track her down. I started to wonder about Riley. Presumably he was on the hit list too? "You know, when I caught up with Riley and his soldiers, Riley wasn't going to the fight. He was looking for _her_. He was upset or angry or something. He had a look of betrayal in his face. He couldn't find her. I think he got the feeling he had been used."

"Huh. I don't feel sorry for him."

"No, me neither." And I began again to wonder what had happened if and when he found her. Maybe they had gone after the girl. I recalled the sweet and overpowering scent being present at the sight of the fight, the memory causing the burning sensation to return to my throat with a vengeance. "There was no sign of the girl at the battle," I told Fred. Her scent was there but she wasn't, well, not that I could see anyway."

He shrugged. "Maybe she was hidden somewhere else, away from the violence?"

"Her scent was everywhere."

"Could have been planted earlier, a decoy? Also, don't forget she was their pet, sort of, and it was their turf so quite natural for her scent to be around."

"Yeah, s'pose." I couldn't bear to think of the desirable scent of this girl so I changed the subject, "So, these vampires you were hiding from in the forest. Did you get a look at them?"

"Not really, I was trying to keep my distance, just in case my offensive _charm_ wasn't working. All I could see through the thick forest were four figures of different sizes, one of them, the leader, significantly smaller than the rest, and female I think. The really strange thing was they were all wearing cloaks. Long black cloaks like something from Count Dracula!"

I remembered the four cloaked vampires I had witnessed visiting the house of our creator, Victoria. It seemed strange how she had a name after all this time and I couldn't get used to using it.

I told Fred about my little trip with Diego a few nights ago. I figured it didn't matter now Diego was dead and anyway, I kind of trusted Fred, even though I hardly knew him. I retold how we had listened while Victoria had given instructions about us kids and how to deal with us. How Riley had assured her we were kept in the dark, _literally. _ How we had later also witnessed the cloaked individuals in the clearing, how they had threatened Victoria, the deadline they had given her and how she and Riley seemed to be afraid of them. "It would seem they are like vampire police or something?"

"Well," Fred continued, "I was wondering if these cloaked vampires , these police, were the _Volturi_?"

I was thoughtful, "Hmmmm Maybe. I just don't know, but it would certainly make sense from the way the yellow-eyed family didn't want to be seen to have broken any rules. I didn't hang around long enough to find out."

"Nope, me neither. I certainly didn't want them to find me hanging around on their way back from their _urgent business_. They didn't look like nice people, even for vampires." And now it was his turn to shudder.

So, that was it was it? The Volturi were the vampire police? I hoped they had dealt with the yellow-eyed people kindly, even if they had seemed to want Victoria to have them destroyed. The pieces were coming together but none of it made much sense.


	3. Chapter 3 Skills

Chapter Three SKILLS

We left Vancouver under cover of darkness, stopping to raid a store for a change of clothes. It was like we really were starting anew, setting off on an adventure of a life-time, neither of us really knowing or caring where we would find ourselves. We headed north. It was easier for a vampire to hang out where there was little sun. Fred had always had a hankering to visit Alaska.

"So how does it work then Fred? This special skill of yours." I asked, curious.

"I'm not sure. I have been experimenting with it and it is getting easier to control," he chuckled to himself. "I wasn't even sure I had it at first, until Riley confirmed it. I just used to wonder why no-one paid me any attention, like I smelled bad or something. I even sniffed my armpits a few times to make sure. How silly."

This made me laugh and I gave him friendly punch on the arm, "idiot," I said jokingly. "Everyone knows vampires don't get body odour."

"Yeah, I know, but seriously, it freaked me out how people avoided me. You were the only one who seemed to want to be close, and it took me a few days to figure out it was only a survival technique on your part."

"Yep, it was almost unbearable," I smiled and jokingly pinched my nose in a way that a human would react to a bad smell, "but it was better than the alternative. Ugh! Raoul and his cronies!"

He laughed and then continued, "After a while I realised I could control it a little better if I concentrated on it."

"Is that why I don't notice it so much now?"

"Yeah, I guess. It is kind of like I have included you in it and so now you are protected by my repulsion."

"Oh great! So now I smell too!"

"Yep, you stink!"

"Are you doing it now?"

"Yes, I am not sure but I believe it might help to cover our track, although of course, this is purely theory." He was thoughtful now and he furrowed his brows a little as if he was struggling to concentrate, "I think there may be a down side to it though."

"A down side?"

"Yeah. When I am using it, I find that my senses aren't quite so sharp, mainly my sense of smell, I think that was how those vampires got so close to me back in Vancouver – I hadn't sensed them coming like I normally would have."

It was my turn to be thoughtful. "But I was able to follow the trail you left me to the park, and then I knew you had gone off somewhere, that's where I was going, to look for you"

"Yeah, I deliberately switched it off on when I got as far as Vancouver because I wanted you to be able to find me. I didn't turn it on until I started to feed, sort of instinctively really. I didn't want to create a scene. Trouble was, by turning it on, it dulled my senses and I almost got caught. This was the first time I realised it had a negative impact on my senses. It's not a huge disadvantage; I mean my senses are still much better than when I was human."

I sniffed the air and found that my sense of smell also seemed a little less sharp than normal too. "Oh well, as long as we can still smell a human from 500 yards we will be fine," I said in a light-hearted manner.

It seemed a small price to pay, a fair trade. I was glad he was essentially covering our tracks. I still had a fear that Riley and/or Victoria would come looking for us, not to mention the Volturi. I doubted that the yellow-eyes would bother. They would go back to their normal _family_ life for now with their bizarre human pet and forget all about me.

We were silent for a while. I used the silence to reflect on my brief encounter with the kinder yellow-eyed vampires, part of me wishing I had stayed to find out more about them. Not that I wasn't extremely glad that to be where I was. Pleased that Fred wanted to share his open-ended adventure with me.

I tried to imagine what they meant by _family_. It was a strange notion and I decided it must be something to do with them being mellowed by age. Riley had told us there eyes were yellow because they were old and weak, but then Riley was a liar. I certainly hadn't seen anything back on that Battlefield at Forks to suggest they were weak, old maybe, but definitely not weak. How else would they have defeated us so easily? Of course Riley had told us one of them was a mind-reader. This had to help. I wondered if it was the kind one called Carlisle, or maybe the softly spoken female who appeared to be his partner. I tried to recall her name, Ellie was it?...no, that wasn't right. Never mind. She had a real compassionate look in those yellow-eyes of hers, sort of motherly and caring. Of course, it might even have been Jasper, the one who had taken charge of guarding me. Maybe that was why he didn't kill me. He had wanted to, certainly. Maybe he could read my thoughts and knew I wasn't going to fight him and that was why he didn't kill me? I No, it couldn't have been him or I wouldn't have been able to escape. He would have been able to prevent that if he had seen it in my mind. I decided it had to be one of the others, one of the _family_ that had been obscured by the thick purple smoke that filled the clearing.

I remembered how he had led me through the trees carefully so I wouldn't hurt myself when I had been instructed to close my eyes. He may just have been following orders not to hurt me from Carlisle and the woman. They hadn't wanted any harm to come to me and I felt sure Jasper would have obeyed them out of respect.

Of course, that was what had been missing from our rabble, respect. Riley led by fear, not by earning respect. The yellow-eyed people respected their leader and were therefore more organised. They had also had more numbers than Riley had let on! Maybe they had other skills besides the mind-reader. I pondered what other skills would be at the disposal of your average vampire. I wondered if I had any I didn't know about yet. I shrugged visibly as I decided probably not.

"What's up?" Fred asked. He had evidently noticed my shrug and my down-turned mouth.

"Oh nothing," I pouted, "Just wishing I had some skill."

"Give it time Bree, you are young yet. Maybe skills don't become apparent until you have been around for a while, as a vampire I mean," and then he paused before continuing, his brow furrowing again, "Maybe you don't acquire your skill until you are pushed into a situation of needing it?"

He was quite a thinker. He had probably excelled at school. I realised I had never asked him about his first life. No, I didn't feel comfortable talking about my past, so I wouldn't ask him yet because then I would be compelled to share mine.

Instead I asked an easier one. "How old are you Fred?"

"Nineteen," he replied

"Oh, right." I had guessed that much, "but actually that's not what I meant."

"Oh, you mean how long since..."

"Yeah."

"I was one of the first. Must be getting on for a year now, I guess. There were only six of us at the time," he smiled as he recalled, "Things were not so bad then. There was Riley of course, but he wasn't such a tyrant back then. It was only once things started getting out of control, after Raoul's arrival that he lost it. Raoul was closely followed by Kevin and well...you can imagine how things took a turn for the worse."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah." I hesitated as the next question came to me, trying not to feel the pain, "and Diego?"

"Yes, Diego was one of the six. He'd been around a little bit longer than me. Riley took a shine to him and left him in charge of the hunting trips for a while. It probably would have continued if Riley and his fancy woman hadn't been so intent in creating so many new-borns. Before long there were about fifteen of us and things were getting more difficult. The newest vampires, including Raoul and Kevin were out of control, always wanting to hunt and with Raoul stirring things up, things turned bad. Houses were being burned down and we were constantly forced to look for somewhere new to hide out. Fights broke out, night after night, it was hopeless. That was when I discovered my skill. I didn't want a part of it, so I excluded myself." He looked extraordinarily pleased with himself and a smug grin appeared across his face and then it turned serious again.

"You don't mind me asking...?" I had become aware of his pause, wanting him to continue.

"No, no, not at all. It was dark times for a while. Newborns arrived, caused havoc, fought with each other, killed each other, more newborns, same old, same old. Riley got incensed, regularly. He would come in and throw a newspaper down on the floor and then yell at us. The headlines were full of stories about riots and killings. We were supposed to be discreet."

I remembered Diego had told me a similar tale.

"After a while," Fred continued, "It became clear to me that Riley was just a puppet. _She_ was calling the shots and he was under the misapprehension that she loved him. Huh! Damned fool!" He grunted and then continued, "That was what caused the show-down with Simon."

"Simon?"

"Yes. He was one of the original six. He had figured it out long before I arrived. He was a smart kid, one of the older ones like me, in human terms I mean, but not smart enough to keep his mouth shut. He challenged Riley about _her_ and told Riley to wake up. Well Riley flipped. Completely flipped. First there was shouting and then the next thing they were fighting. Riley told him to keep his nose out. He was incensed that someone would dare to question her motives. He didn't want any of us to know anything about her. The less we knew the better."

I remembered that night that Diego and I had overheard them talking in that cottage. Riley had assured _her_ that we were clueless about our mission and her involvement.

"They were evenly matched and no-one else wanted to get involved." Fred grimaced, "Except Raoul and Kevin, of course. They returned from hunting together, and within seconds joined in the brawl without bothering to find out what it was about. Within a few minutes Simon was in pieces all over the room. Limbs scattered around the room and Raoul and Kevin were throwing his head around like a football. I think that's why Riley tolerated Raoul and Kevin's exploits. I guess he figured he owed them one."

"So what about the others, the original six I mean?"

"That's it really. Riley, Diego, Simon and myself." Fred was absent-mindedly counting on his fingers. "Steve and Shelley made up the six, but as you know disappeared. No-one knows why, they just didn't return from hunting one night. I do know that they were getting sick of all the fighting. Maybe it is like you said, maybe they found out about the sunshine not burning us and decided to go off on their own? Maybe we'll run into them one day, eh?" he nudged me gently and smiled.

"I wonder why I didn't think to leave before," I said. "What about you? Why didn't you leave?"

"Don't know really, didn't think about it. Didn't have a plan, still haven't really, but at least now I have a companion," he winked at me and smiled ,"And anyway, as I told you before, there was no way I was going to fight for that thug Riley. I was quite content to sit around and enjoy your company, share your books and our little secret and all, but as soon as I realised we would be fighting within a few days I started making my plans. Seemed like a good idea to include you in them." He turned to face me, putting his arms around me pulling me closer to him, smiling and pulling me closer to him. His arm was caressing my back now in a way that it shouldn't be. I could have sworn he was about to kiss me!

My jaw must have dropped as I pulled away from him because he stopped short, "Hey Bree, what's up?"

It had never occurred to me that he had enjoyed my company, certainly not in _that_ way. I had assumed I was as invisible to him as I had been to the others when I was shrouded in his mist. Now it appeared I was more to him than just a travelling companion. How long had he been planning this I wondered? Was it spontaneous? "Eh, what. Oh nothing," I said looking down.

"Hey, c'mon Bree, I didn't mean anything by it. It was just that you and I, well we seemed like kindred spirits or something, both wanting to be left alone when all the bickering and brawling was going on." He reached out now to touch my hand again and I instantly retracted it. "Sorry, I..."

I don't know why I had done that. Fred was only being a friend to me, but I felt overcome with sadness, silly really because it wasn't like me and Diego really had anything going, but in the short space of time I knew him I felt some kind of allegiance to him. I had never been in love so wasn't entirely sure, but I didn't think I had been in love with him, but I had felt pangs of guilt just then when Fred implied we had a hidden friendship thing going on, a kind of mutual understanding. I felt like it was betraying Diego to be here with Fred. And then for him to touch me, to try and kiss me! I didn't want that kind of relationship with Fred.

"Hey Bree, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's ok," I sighed. "I was just thinking of Diego."

"Oh," he nodded. "Sorry. Look all I meant was..."

"Yeah, well I guess Diego isn't here anymore, so no good dwelling on it," I said dejectedly, but I wished Fred hadn't said anything like that. It had spoiled it. The realisation that there might have been more than just companionship on Fred's mind bothered me. "Let's talk about something else. I don't want to think about... "

"That's odd," Fred suddenly whispered as if thinking out loud, "I've just completely lost track of what we were talking about." His heavy brows knitted together like he was trying to concentrate on something. "Nope, completely gone. Talk about what?"

I smiled up at him, "Thanks."

"Eh, thanks for what?"

"Um, for forgetting?" I didn't know what was going on here. One minute he had ruined things, albeit momentarily, by declaring some sort of secret friendship thing going on between us, moving as if to kiss me, then he was gallantly pretending to forget he had said anything, and now he was playing dumb. This was beginning to annoy me.

"Er, I'm not sure what I am supposed to be forgetting."

"Stop teasing Fred."

"Teasing? I don't get it? I'm not teasing."

"Oh, so you have shocking memory loss do you? Are there any other personality traits I don't know about?"

"No, I have an excellent memory...usually."

We stood still for a while. I was upset. I had wanted to talk about something else, right? But I didn't know why he was pretending to forget what he had been talking about. I had willed him to stop though hadn't I? And now he had, so why was I getting narky about it? Was it because I felt he was teasing? Being a complete jerk?

He stood there looking completely bewildered, shaking his head. He was an extremely good actor it seemed.

"I really do swear I haven't got the faintest idea what we were talking about."

"Really?" Now he had me alarmed. Something in the look on his face made me actually believe him now. "You were telling me about the early days of Riley's army and..."

"Yes, yes, I remember that, and then..."

"About Shelly and Steve and how they disappeared."

"Yes, and then...oh yes, I remember now," he genuinely looked relieved that he had finally got back on track. "OK, so we won't talk about that any more."

"No, it's ok, I'm over it now." What had just passed between us made the whole hidden friendship kiss thing seem insignificant.

"Bree?"

"Yes?"

"What happened then?" he was still looking puzzled. "It seemed like you took my thoughts away for a while, like you made me forget what I was saying or something because you didn't want me to say it?"

I stared at him for what seemed an eternity, the thoughts and possibilities swirling around in my head. Was that even possible? Had I really done that? I had certainly wished he would forget it, but...

"Bree, I believe you may have found your hidden skill."

I laughed "Don't be ridiculous," although I got to admit, it was a possibility.

"Try it again, go on, stop me from thinking what I am thinking about."

"hmmm ok, I'll try." I cocked my head on one side and tried to look thoughtful.

I didn't have a clue what I was doing. How did this work? I tried to focus on his eyes, his forehead. What was I supposed to be thinking about anyway, how could I concentrate on banishing his thoughts when I didn't have a clue what he was thinking about.

"Nope, it's not working," he looked almost dejected.

"Oh well. I guess we can't all be freaky!" and I ran off laughing.


	4. Chapter 4 What Now?

Chapter Four WHAT NOW?

We reached the Alaskan border by sunrise. It was spectacular. Breathtaking scenery, endless forests, mountains and fjords. But I took none of this in at that moment, because there was not a human in sight. We were both in dire need of a hunt. We regretted not finding some food before we left Vancouver but we had kind of been in a hurry to get away, for fear of upsetting the local vamps.

"Remind me again what is so special about Alaska," I said scornfully.

Fred didn't answer. He just shot me an apologetic glance, raising his eyebrows and shrugging.

The pain in my throat was beginning to take over everything. As much as I should have been completely bowled over at how beautiful it was here, the fire burning inside me was overbearing. I needed a kill and I needed it now.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Fred grumbled.

I barely noticed. I could think of nothing except the sweet smell of human blood. "Hey Fred, could you switch off your repellent. I'm trying to concentrate. I haven't smelt human scent since we left civilisation behind in Vancouver."

"I switched it off ages ago," he snapped.

"Oh. Well I guess we have come to the wrong part of the world then, for a vampire anyway."

We were both irritable now.

I realised that I had spent the last two hundred miles or so totally absorbed in listening out for human heartbeats. We had hardly spoken since the whole _forget it_ scene, but it wasn't because I was still mad with him, it was just that I was so hungry.

"I mean it Bree. I'm going to eat a horse before long."

"You what?"

"Well, its blood isn't it? How different can it be?"

"Well, in case you hadn't realised we seem to be fresh out of horses here too."

"Yeah, um, but I bet there are other things here, reindeer or something?"

"Ewwww would you just stop Fred. I'm far to obsessed with the thought of human blood to listen to your idiotic ideas. Reindeer indeed! You're losing it."

"What? What are you on about? Reindeer?"

"Exactly."

Fred shrugged and looked at me like I was from another planet.

"What?" I snapped at him.

"You're telling me I am losing it and you start talking about Reindeer."

"You started it."

"No, I didn't." He looked angry now too. And then, "hey, wait a minute...you just did it again."

"Did what again?" He was becoming tiresome. I was beginning to wish I hadn't bothered to find him in Vancouver. The shocking thirst was no doubt making me unreasonable, but why did he have to be so obtuse.

"That memory control thing."

OK, he had a point. I had actually wished he would stop talking about the ridiculous prospect of changing our diet to reindeer, and it had actually stopped him for even thinking about it. He had forgotten he had said it.

Weird. I shook my head.

"So who's freaky now then?" a big grin spread across his face.

"Actually it's quite cool," I said smugly. "At least I don't repel people."

The tension was broken by laughter and I stuck my tongue out at him like a child.

This was so weird. I tried to remember how I had done it. Nope, no idea. I shook my head again. I had just simply got annoyed with him and wished he would stop talking about reindeer. Maybe I had to exercise some emotion with it, like anger, or sorrow, as with the whole Diego guilt thing earlier, and maybe I had to know what he was thinking, or share what he was thinking to be able to stop him from thinking it? I would have to work on it.

At least it had taken my mind of my thirst for a short while. Not long enough though. It was back again.

How could stopping someone's thoughts be useful though? I couldn't see that it could be regarded as a skill in the same way as Fred's ability to repel people. Or could it? Well I suppose if someone was thinking of attacking you and you could exercise enough fear you could maybe get them to forget they were going to attack you. No, I was the one being ridiculous now. How was that ever going to work?

"Anchorage isn't far now," Fred offered. "Come on, I'll race you."

Anchorage was a city, the capital city of Alaska, and that meant one thing to a blood-starved vampire. Humans!

"Yep, you're on."

I forgot all about my new-found skill and our stupid argument about reindeer. We were tearing through the forest at lightning speed, flitting between the trees and undergrowth with grace and ease, darting this way and then that way, occasional glimpses of the stunning coastline flashed by, but our thoughts concentrated on one thing. Blood. Human blood.

"So you don't fancy reindeer then?" he chanced.

"Shut up or I'll make you lose your mind again," I replied laughing.

I was surprised that I was in the lead, enjoying the thrill of the chase, my hair blowing out behind me in the wind, the cold air on my face, still laughing, glad to be alive, glad to be free, and then suddenly, just as we reached the brow of a hill, there it was, sprawled out in front of us. Anchorage. Our feast awaited!

It had been tricky. Neither of us had hunted in the daytime before and it seemed alien to us, but it had to be done. The one thing it its favour was the abundance of humans, unsuspecting humans going about their daily business. The down side was that it was harder to be discreet. Still, if you knew the kind of places to look it wasn't hard to single out the type that wouldn't be missed too much and the weather helped. It was dull and overcast so we didn't have to worry about lurking in the shadows. Nevertheless, after satisfying our thirst we thought it might be prudent to keep a low profile for a while.

We had detected no other vampire presence here, which was a good thing. Maybe we had Anchorage to ourselves. If that was the case, as long as we were discreet we could stay here for a while. We had no need to hide ourselves during the daylight hours any more, but old habits die hard and so we found an empty warehouse down near the port.

"Isn't it great to be free Fred?" I had just been marvelling at how our lives had changed so dramatically in the last couple of days and I angered myself that I had not done this before. It was dumb of us to return that night, Diego and myself. We should have just turned and ran. What had compelled us to go back? It must have been Diego's misplaced loyalty to Riley or something. Diego had no intention of escaping. Had he not been killed by Riley he would have gone to the fight and died with all the others, including me, no doubt. Yes, Diego would not have wanted to leave. I berated myself for not realising this before. As much as I felt saddened by Diego's death I realised I had actually chosen a better option. Fred wasn't so bad in any case. He was kind of interesting. He had a kind of inner peace about him. I imagined he would have been quite kind as a human.

Fred didn't reply immediately. He was preoccupied with his thoughts too. He turned to look at me with a warm smile on his face, now answering my earlier question, "Yep, and we have got until eternity to enjoy it."

I hadn't really thought much on my immortality before now. Maybe I hadn't allowed myself such a luxury when my existence has seemed to be in constant danger. Fred was right though, we _were_ immortal and eternity was forever. Maybe that's what he had been thinking of because he suddenly said, "It's a long time to be sat around waiting for something to happen. We should find some things to do."

But what did vampires do when they weren't killing humans for their blood? I'd never stopped to think about that one either. "Um, yeah, like what?" I asked shrugging my shoulders.

"Well, for starters, we should get some books to read. We both like books. Tonight we will go shopping."

Of course I knew he didn't mean shopping as in you walk into a store and pay for stuff.

"OK, it's a start I guess."

By the time most humans were turning into their beds for the night we had managed to acquire several books, magazines, CD's, 2 portable CD players, a computer game and of course, a bag to carry it all in. The bag had actually been the most difficult to come by as we had triggered the alarm of the hiking store and had had to break through the steel shutters, which had closed automatically, in order to escape. It would have been impossible for a human to force their way through before the police arrived, but we were well clear of the store before we heard the sirens approaching.

We had also amassed a fairly sizeable amount of cash, breaking open the cash registers before leaving each store.

"What do we need money for?" I had asked Fred.

"You never know, just might come in handy in case we feel like playing at being human for a while," he had replied.

He had some very strange ideas sometimes. How could we ever want to play at being human? That would mean mingling with humans and I was pretty sure it wouldn't turn out too well for the humans.

Anchorage was a normally quiet city and I think we had probably given the police enough to think about for one night, so we retired to our warehouse down by the docks to lay low for a while.

At least we had some entertainment. Fred hadn't really got any CD's that I liked so I began reading one of the dozen or so books, making a note to sort myself out with my own CD collection next time we took a shopping trip.

I was bored, and thirsty, and of course, the more I thought about it, the worse the pain in my throat became.

Fred must have noticed my agitation and guessed at the reason for it. "You're going to have to learn to control that a little bit Bree. We can't go hunting every night or folks round here will get suspicious."

I scowled and muttered under my breath, "Easy for you to say."

"No, it's not easy, but it _does_ get easier with practice." He said sympathetically. "I have had a few more months to get used to it. Don't worry, I will help you. Trust me. It won't always be this hard. I remember being a newborn, it was all I could think about for the first six months."

"Six months!" I gasped in exasperation. "I'm only half way through that."

"Well, it's got to be getting better already hasn't it?"

I nodded. To be truthful it was getting better, although I didn't feel like admitting it at the moment. I just wanted to sulk.

"I'm thirsty too Bree, I gave up my second kill so that you could have more than me. But I am not hunting tonight. It's up to you, I'm not going to stop you, but I think you should refrain tonight. We will go every other night, and then maybe in a couple of weeks we could try going every three nights? We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

I didn't answer, I remained sat on the floor with my knees up to my chin and my arms wrapped firmly around them, staring into space. He was right, of course.

"Bree?" He was asking for confirmation.

So much for freedom I thought. "Yeah, ok" I sighed.

"Try not to think about it. Read your book or play with the computer game."

I had never played a computer game and couldn't really be bothered with that. The book wasn't holding my interest either. So this was it was it? For eternity? Stuck in some dreary warehouse, bored out of my brains, waiting for the next time I could go hunting.

There was nothing to do here. I surprisingly begun to miss the nights spent in the basements of Seattle. I might have been scared witless most of the time but at least there was always a sense of excitement when one of the idiot thugs had returned and picked a fight. I began to think of the yellow-eyed family and wondered what they were doing. What did being a family mean? I hoped again they had survived their visit from the Volturi. I began to picture them sitting around laughing and joking with each other, hunting together. I didn't imagine they lived in a lifeless warehouse with just a few stolen books and CD's to while away the hours. I hadn't really thought about it up until now but I recalled that they had been well dressed and well educated. I bet they had a flashy house to hang out in. I bet they had a television and hundreds of CD's to choose from. I bet they even had a computer. Riley had said there were seven of them. I think he had either lied or miscalculated about that but either way, there was a sufficient number to make life more entertaining. It was strange how I had never had a family to speak of as a human, and yet now I craved this almost as much as I craved blood. I glanced over at Fred. He was lying on his back staring at the ceiling, listening to his music. He was miles away. I wanted to talk but thought better of it. He seemed at peace with his lot.

Instead I picked up the book and flipped to the page where I had left off earlier, trying to feign an interest in it.


	5. Chapter 5 Old Acquaintances

Chapter Five OLD ACQUAINTANCES

Weeks passed. Fred was getting bored now too. "I don't know why I thought Alaska would be a good idea," he had admitted.

We both fancied going to Europe but weren't sure how to get there. Being a vampire, you couldn't just get on a plane or a boat. We probably had enough stolen money to buy the ticket, but we had no passports. How would you get a passport when you didn't even exist?

Fred had suggested we could stow away on a boat but he didn't trust me not to kill the entire crew. It was an idea though, although admittedly not a very good one. I was finding it easier to control my thirst, but I still couldn't go more than three days before the fire started burning uncontrollably in my throat.

I had made a mistake one night and taken out a young girl on her way home from a night out with her friends. It had been all over the papers and there were "missing person" posters all over the lamp posts. Our shopping trips hadn't gone unreported either. It seemed there was a mini crime-wave breaking out in Anchorage. We would have to move on soon.

It was a shame really, because we had managed to find some better living accommodation, and hadn't even had to kill anyone for it, although the old lady that had been living there was actually dead of course, but that wasn't our fault. We had been out hunting one night and had noticed an ambulance taking a body bag out of a large house in one of the suburbs. We had hung around afterwards and there was no sign of anyone else living in the house so we moved in. Life was so much more interesting with a television, well, we had one each actually.

The old lady's family had turned up one afternoon to pack up some of her personal effects. We had scuttled out the back door and hid in the garden until they were gone. We didn't want to be responsible for more deaths in the same family. They didn't seem to notice that we had moved a few things around inside the house. Maybe they hadn't visited their elderly relative very often. A Real Estate board had been erected in the front garden later that day so we knew it wouldn't be long before the house was emptied and new people would want to move in, and since the house wasn't likely to be advertised as "comes complete with two resident vampires" we decided that we should make plans to leave.

Not only that, but some other vampires had turned up one night. Four of them. They had walked up the steps and paused at the front door. "This is definitely the right house," one of them had said before they had gone round the back of the house and entered through the back door. "Their scent is everywhere, but the house is empty. Maybe they have moved on?" One of the others had said.

They had discussed our whereabouts for a few minutes before departing making the final comment "Well, we will continue to monitor the situation for a while."

Fred had masked us, so we had remained safe, hiding in the roof space, but it wouldn't be long before they came back. Fred's repulsion skills came in very handy, but it didn't allow me to practice mine, as my own skill didn't work when he was using his, probably because his was more powerful.

Had this been a visit from the Volturi? Had my recent indiscretion alerted them to our presence? I really had to be more careful in future.

"Well, we can't go to Europe so I guess we should explore the US," Fred had suggested. "It's huge and will take us a few years to cover all of it. We haven't got to stay cooped up in Alaska for ever. Then there is all of South America too, of course."

Winter was fast approaching. A newspaper had informed us that it was almost the end of September, so the more southern states of North America wouldn't be quite so impossibly sunny. We had grown accustomed to going out during the day time whenever we wanted. Fred had stolen a couple of pairs of sunglasses so that our dark red eyes didn't give us away, yes, mine were finally getting darker now too. We may have looked a little conspicuous wandering around with sunglasses on but no-one seemed to notice. Fred 's knack of making people look the other way seemed to work on humans too, although I imagine it was not nearly so effective because of their dulled senses. It probably had more to do with our natural ability to make people ever so slightly afraid of staring at us, wary of us without really understanding why.

We practiced our skills together, working as a team. When one of the humans had persisted in staring at us, Fred would try the repulsion first and then he would whisper to me, "now" and then I would make them forget what they had been thinking long enough for us to disappear out of sight. We had laughed at how they had stood there shaking their heads while we observed them from a distance too far for them to be able to see us, but well within a vampires range of vision.

We could only venture out on days when it was overcast, of course, but Fred said it was good discipline for us to wander around near to humans, so that we could grow accustomed to the dreaded throat-burn without having to kill everyone in sight. We had even walked into a cafe and ordered some coffee on one occasion, and paid for it like any human would. We had left without drinking it of course!

Yes, it was working, slowly. Provided I had fed the night before I found that it was possible to be near humans without feeling the need to lust after their blood.

"OK then, let's do it!" I replied enthusiastically.

So we began packing up a few items from around the house to take with us and within a couple of minutes we were off on our new adventure, not sure where it would lead.

I had been bored out of my mind at first in Alaska, but once we had found the old ladies house things had settled in to a routine. I had gotten used to Fred and his ways. He was kind and considerate. He had helped me as promised to learn ways to control myself. He liked his quiet time, where he switched off from everything, totally absorbed in his music. There had also been times when we talked, sometimes all day. I had finally told him my human story but to be honest there hadn't been much to tell. His story was altogether a lot more interesting. His father had been in the Merchant Navy so he had travelled around a lot as a young child. His mother was of Polish origins although she had been born in Texas. He had family in Poland and other Eastern European countries and so he had spent some time visiting them during school vacations. This was one of the reasons he had wanted to travel to Europe, not to look up his relatives of course, that would be foolish, but to revisit some of the places he remembered from his childhood.

He had been at University in Seattle and just happened to be in the wrong part of town that night when Riley had been recruiting for his friend Victoria. He had been out on a drinking session, celebrating the end of exams and had separated from his pals because they were going off to a club he didn't much like the sound of. Unfortunately he was a bit the worse for wear and had too much alcohol inside him so he had semi-collapsed in the street. The last thing he remembered was thinking that he would just sit down for a while to get some fresh air and wait for the drunken haze to pass. His parents presumed him dead by now although obviously there was no body. He wanted to let them know he was ok, if you could call being undead ok, but obviously that was out of the question. I could tell this was something he really struggled with. But it was impossible for us to give away our secret, even to those we had loved in our former lives. For a start it would completely freak them out. Vampires belonged in mythical story books. No-one had a clue that we existed, and that was the way it must stay. This was the first thing we were taught and it was a rule that never, ever got broken. The Volturi would arrive if we exposed ourselves to the humans and that would be the end of us.

It seemed strange then that the yellow-eyed vampires in Forks had a pet human. How could this be? Was this why the Volturi had wanted Victoria to dispense with them? Why couldn't they have done it themselves? Maybe they didn't want to dirty their hands? It was easier to let Victoria do it. I still had so many questions. Fred and I hadn't been able to fathom much out between us. I thought the need for answers would have diminished with time, but I was still as curious as ever about finding out more about this family and how they lived. How they could keep a human in their presence. It was definitely something I was going to have to find out one day. Maybe we could stop by Forks on the way south? No, too dangerous still. Common sense told me Victoria and Riley would be long gone, but it was still too early to risk going back there. Besides, what if I had made them angry by disappearing and they would just kill me anyway? I couldn't imagine Carlisle or his partner feeling that way, but what if I ran into Jasper first. He wouldn't hesitate.

"You're quiet Bree," Fred said curiously as we were leaving the city behind us, running into the shelter of the forest.

"Deep in thought as usual," I replied, "Sorry."

"Still trying to put together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle?"

"Yep."

"Well, we could call in to Forks and try and locate them if you want. Things should have quietened down by now."

I shuddered at the thought "No, still too soon, Victoria..."

"She's long gone I imagine, and her partner in crime. We stand as much chance of running into either of them anywhere else in the world as we would in Forks." Fred's words didn't comfort me much. I had also thought of this from time to time but hadn't actually wanted to voice it out loud like he just had.

"No, I'd rather just stay away from Forks for a while," I said firmly.

"OK, your choice." He shrugged. "Maybe we will run into some other vampires on our travels who know of them. It's a small world really."

"Yeah, maybe," I agreed, deciding this might be a better option.

We ran on in silence for a while. I didn't see how we would do that? We had run away from Vancouver because of other vampires being present in the city. We had been running scared then though. We were a bit more mature now. Yet we had left Anchorage in a hurry too because of the visit from another group of vampires. I didn't really think it was the Volturi. They had seemed more curious of our existence, rather than menacing. Their voices had somehow sounded too kind to belong to the cloaked figures of the Volturi.

Maybe we would be able to seek out new vampire friends? Was that what vampires did? Did we make friends? I wasn't sure. I had been petrified at the time of encountering more of our kind because I had assumed it would end in a fight, but maybe vampires didn't normally kill each other, only the less intelligent ones that Riley had thrown together in our disorganised chaotic mess that we lived in. They had been thugs who had probably spent most of their human existence brawling in the streets.

I considered that Fred and myself were a lot more civilised than we had been back then, we had even learned to control ourselves around minimal human interaction. If we didn't seek out and make friends with other vampires how would we ever get any of our questions answered?

As if Fred had been following my train of suddenly asked "Do you want to go back to Vancouver and see if we can find those other vampires there?"

"That's weird, I was just thinking the same thing. Do you think it is safe?"

He laughed, "Well, I can make us almost seem invisible, they will be so repulsed they won't be able to look at us, and then you can make them forget they were thinking of killing us..."

"Hmmm, I'm not having much success with that Fred. I don't think it works any more. I haven't been able to do it for ages, apart from on those stupid humans."

"That's because I haven't made you mad lately," he joked.

"Maybe." I replied after a while. Thinking about it, he hadn't made me angry or upset at all recently. Yes, I could say we had been getting along really well. I smiled at him and he tentatively reached out to touch my hand as we ran through the forest together. To my surprise I let him. It didn't feel wrong any more.

I didn't know if he had taken my hand to try and get a reaction from me in an attempt to trigger whatever it was that made me work that memory charm on him, but to be honest, I didn't care. It felt nice, so I left it there and we continued like this, hand in hand for the remainder of our journey south to Vancouver.

I still wasn't sure if we were going to seek out the local vampires, it had just seemed a natural place to pass through to wherever we were heading. I could have done with a feed if I was honest but I didn't want to provoke them by feeding on their territory if we were going to attempt a peaceful encounter so I kept my thoughts and my thirst to myself. I was surprised at how easy it was becoming now after several weeks of self-restraint.

"You ok?" Fred asked me. It was odd how he was so often in tune with my thoughts these days.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I assured him. "Are you covering us?"

"Yep. Just in case." He knew what I had meant by my question.

We headed for the park, not really knowing why, but it was a place familiar to both of us and it seemed like a good place to start. "What now?" I asked.

"Not sure, um, maybe we should head in the direction where I went to feed the last time we were here."

"OK."

How does one find a couple of vampires in a big city? It was surprisingly hard, even with our super alert senses. It was the early hours of the morning so if they were hunting it would be now, but there was no sign of them here. We wandered around for an hour or so in vain.

"OK, let's head down to the docks," Fred suggested.

I nodded.

For some reason which I hadn't quite figured out, the docks always seemed to draw vampires. Maybe it was the surplus of vagrants that frequented the dockland area in the hope of catching a ship to another port? When we got to Anchorage we had headed straight for the dockland area and had found a meal instantly. Anyway, we weren't having much luck in the city centre so we might as well head for the docks.

Our senses guided us in the general direction of the water. We got to the last street of habitation. I shut out the noise of the human heart-beats. It was becoming a bit too much to bear. Fred stopped suddenly in his tracks. I got it too, just a fraction of a second after he had, probably because I had been concentrating so hard on the pain on my throat I hadn't been paying as much attention as he was.

"Are you still covering us Fred?" I whispered so quietly that even a vampire wouldn't have been able to hear unless they were right next to us.

"Yes," he whispered back, "look, over there, on the edge of the pier."

We moved as close as we dared and then he said, "Ok, I'm going to turn it off now because we don't want to startle them. They will attack if they don't know we are approaching them."

As soon as Fred turned off his repulsion, several things happened at once. The two vampires instantly felt our presence, spun around and crouched ready to attack, hissing sounds coming from their mouths. Fred put his hands up to warn them that we meant no harm. I took a couple of paces backwards so that I was cowardly hiding behind Fred, leaving him totally exposed, and then, after peering around Fred's sleeve I breathed out a sigh of relief as I recognised the male and the female vampires crouched in attack mode only twenty or so yards away from us. Fred had been right about his skill, it did numb our senses too, I was fairly sure I would have easily recognised the scent of Steve and Shelly if I hadn't been _hampered_ by Fred's shield.

I came out from hiding. "Hey there Steve, Shelly," I called. "It's Bree, um and Fred." They reacted like they didn't know who Bree was but_ Fred_ seemed to register with them so I was glad I added his name to the end of my sentence.

We crept forward cautiously as they were crouching, although the hissing had stopped.

"We come in peace," Fred offered, smiling nervously. "We are just passing through. We will not cause you any trouble."

Steve and Shelly now relaxed their posture, looked at each other and then back at us with smiles of recognition spreading across their marble-like faces.

"Well hello there, welcome," Steve said, now stepping forward confidently. Shelly was at his side in a sudden flash but was obscuring herself partly by Steve's massive body, just like I had with Fred.

Steve shook hands with Fred, Shelly and I nodded at each other cautiously. I had begun to wonder if this had been a good idea, but there was no going back now. Steve was smiling broadly but Shelly hung back slightly. I recalled that she was always the quieter of the two and so I guess it made her a little more nervous.

Steve looked at me. "Bree?" he asked.

"Yes?" I answered, not sure of the question.

"I know your face but I never knew your name..."

I shrugged and smiled at him with the friendliest smile I could muster under the circumstances, with my raging thirst. "It's ok, I kept mostly out of the way back then I guess." Steve and Shelly had left the group fairly soon after I had arrived so I wasn't surprised he only vaguely remembered me.

"I remember your face too," Shelley said with a timid sort of smile on her face.

"So this is where you disappeared to?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, been here about three months now," Steve said, looking pleased with himself.

"It's a little longer than that now." Shelley corrected him.

"So, you guys figured it out too then, about the sun I mean?" Fred asked.

Steve let out a long laugh. It broke the tension and we all laughed at the ridiculous notion that the sun would burn us to a frazzle.

"Yeah," Steve explained. "We came back from hunting one night and found the house burned to the ground, nothing unusual about that! But, we were cutting it fine for time anyway and so didn't have time to find the next hiding place before the sun started to rise, and well, we just sort of realised that if the weak sun at daybreak hadn't killed us, we would see what happened if we stayed out a bit longer. So, anyway, yeah, to cut a long story short, we didn't go back. Riley was becoming a nightmare anyway!"

"Yeah, you're right about that!" Fred let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"So what happened to you two? How long did you stay?"

"Long enough to narrowly avoid the fight."

"Fight?" Shelly gasped.

"Yeah, Riley had been building an army, of sorts. Victoria, she's the one who created us, was using him to settle some kind of feud thing she had going with a coven in Forks. It was a shambles though, Riley had no control. He kept bringing in newborns to replace newborns because they just kept killing each other. Riley's army was defeated in the end."

"So you two left before the fight?" Steve didn't seem to notice the anxious look Shelly was giving him.

"_I _did," Fred told him, "But Bree here surrendered to the opposition and they let her live."

"Well, it wasn't quite like that, but close enough I suppose," I added, and then I felt the need to explain because Steve and Shelly were both staring incredulously at me. "They were kind." OK, so now Steve was frowning at me so I wasn't explaining myself very well, "They promised to let me live if I didn't fight."

"But they were vampires right?" Steve asked, still frowning.

"Yes, but different somehow. Sort of civilised and sophisticated. They must be really old because their eyes had gone yellow, which somehow made them look softer, wiser and yeah, get this, they referred to themselves as _family_"

I could see Steve and Shelly trying to process this information without success. Steve was shaking his head. "Hmmm yellow eyes eh? Freaky." Shelly was still looking anxious. Steve shot her a glance and appeared to shake his head at her in dismissal.

"Well, more of a sort of topaz colour really," I added looking at Steve and then Shelly, wondering what I was missing. There seemed to be some information passing between the two of them but I decided it was probably just uncertainty about what I was telling them.

"Wonder how long it takes to turn your eyes yellow? Hundreds of years maybe? Oh well, keep ourselves out of trouble and maybe we'll get there one day." Steve chuckled. Shelly relaxed now. Whatever it was that was bothering her had passed.

"Um, talking of keeping ourselves out of trouble," Fred said humbly. "Bree here is dying of thirst so we need to split soon and go find a snack, but we didn't want to tread on your toes."

Steve stiffened up and Shelly shot him a glance. "Oh ok, thanks for that. We try and keep a low profile here. We like this town and don't want to have to leave. We have perfected the art of self-restraint and only take food when necessary. We had a couple of vamps pass through here a while back helping themselves to our food supply but I think we frightened them off, they haven't been back since."

Now it was Fred's turn to shoot me a glance. "Um sorry Steve, that was us...we didn't know until it was too late." Fred waited for a reaction before adding "And I'm sorry we didn't clean our mess up, but you didn't give us a chance."

"Ok, well at least that clears that up. Thank you for your honesty." Steve looked slightly annoyed but his tone wasn't harsh. "What I don't understand though is that we couldn't follow the trail. There was a trace for a while, and then it just vanished."

Fred risked a grin now. "Oh, that would be my repulsive charm. Do you remember, back in the dark old days, people used to stay away from me?"

"Oh yeah, I do now...ewwwww yeah, you were repulsive on occasions Fred. I remember Riley going on about it being a gift, but honestly, I couldn't bear to look at you."

"Well, I've been working on it, trying to perfect it. I can control it now so that I can turn it on and off, project it in certain directions, and I found, most usefully, that I can almost make myself invisible to other vampires."

"How?"

"Well I'm not sure how it works, but I think it kind of repels you, puts you off following me."

"Really? Fascinating." Steve mused. "Yes, I can imagine that is very useful. And, I guess that explains how you were able to sneak up on us like that earlier. But what about Bree here?"

"Oh I can extend it to cover her too," Fred crooned proudly.

"Wow!" Shelly exclaimed.

"So, anyway, we've got to shoot off. It's been lovely catching up again."

"No," Steve said, "Don't go. Look, we don't mind if you hang around here for a bit, as long as you are discreet." He looked at Shelly and she nodded in approval. "You know the rules, only take what won't be missed and clean up after yourselves."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, just be careful, that's all we ask."

An hour later and I had quenched the overbearing thirst that had been so hard to control. As requested we had cleaned up after ourselves, leaving no trace of our kill. To be honest, this was a practice that we had meticulously been following so it wasn't hard to do.

The sun was making an effort to break through the night sky. We glided silently back to the place where Steve and Shelly were waiting for us.

"Better now?" Steve asked me.

"Um, yes," I replied, a little embarrassed. Was I that obvious? I thought I had been controlling myself pretty well. I'd obviously been deluding myself too. "Thanks," I added.

"No problem Bree. I remember what it was like at first," Shelly replied with a kind smile on her face.

So, I was still regarded as a newborn by these vampires who were surely only a few months older than me. I hid my disappointment and just smiled and nodded. I didn't think Shelly had meant to be condescending. It was just that I had been trying so hard to be more mature, and it really was extremely hard. Fred had said I was doing really well. He had also commented that my eyes were darkening nicely now.

"So, you said you were just passing through?" Steve asked.

"Well yeah. We were heading south and wanted to call in and make acquaintances with you," Fred told him. "Well, we didn't know it was you of course, until we got here, but we knew there were vampires in Vancouver and we were curious."

We found ourselves back at the temporary accommodation Steve and Shelly had been using and now Steve gestured for us to enter. It was an unoccupied house, similar to the one we had left behind in Anchorage. "In between owners at the moment," Steve grinned.

We went in through the side door, and followed them down to the basement. "We use the basement because it doesn't draw attention" Steve explained. Fred and I both nodded in approval.

"So, you are welcome to stay for while if you want. There is plenty of room. " Steve gestured.

Yes, it was a big enough basement for just four vampires. I recalled the time when there were twenty or more of us crammed into a much smaller basement, not so long ago.

"Thanks, that's kind of you. We won't be in your way for long." Fred told him.

I had to admit, although it was nice to catch up with Steve and Shelly, and I looked forward to exchanging stories with them, I was a little disappointed. I had been hoping to run into some older vampires who might be able to answer some of my questions.

Fred had wandered over to Steve's CD collection, as if drawn by some magnetic force. "Do you mind?" he asked, holding one of the many CD's up towards Steve.

"Help yourself," Steve told him.

I looked around the tidy basement, a little bemused by how vampires, out of habit I suppose, arranged the furniture as humans would. The television set was in one corner of the room and the armchairs were circled around it at a normal human-viewing distance.

"So, do you guys hang out here during the daytime?" I asked Shelly as we sat down. Shelly was flicking through the channels absent-mindedly and then she settled on one of the many news channels.

"Yeah, sometimes, usually, I guess," she replied. "Sometimes we go out and mingle with the humans. We have been practising hard you see, to try and adapt, so that we won't get noticed."

It would be nice I thought to be able to get to the stage where I could do this.

"You see, we figure that if we are in this for eternity, then we might as well try and live a full and normal life as much as is possible. We don't want to spend for ever hiding in basements."

I smiled and nodded.

"I guess we had better lie low for now though." She added looking a little embarrassed.

I knew what she had meant. As long as I was here, the uncontrolled new-born, they would not be able to pursue their normal daily activities.

"Don't worry," I told her "We really don't intend to be around for long. As Fred said we are just passing through. Actually I was hoping, I mean that is the reason why we came to find you...I was hoping you might have heard about the vampires in Forks, that you might be able to shed some light on some of the questions I had."

Steve came over then and sat on the arm of Shelly's chair and put his arm around her.

"There is something you need to know about Forks," he said.

I concentrated on Steve's face now, astonished that it appeared they maybe did know something. I remembered then the anxious look on Shelly's face earlier when I had been telling them about the yellow-eyed vampire. I glanced another look at Shelly. She looked a bit uncomfortable.

"There are other supernatural beings in Forks besides vampires," he continued. "I haven't seen them myself, but a few weeks back we ran into Diego, Do you remember Diego?"

I gasped, "He's alive?"

"Well, yes, if you can call this existence life," Steve grinned.

I felt numb, excited, relieved but most of all I just wanted to listen to the rest of his story now with even more eagerness. "Go on, how?" I prompted, "How is he?"

"Bree, are you ok?" Steve asked, looking concerned. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Well, in a way I had. I had been sure Diego was gone forever.

I nodded, "please, go on. Diego was my friend. I thought he was..."

"No," Steve smiled, "he's not, but he very nearly was." He seemed hesitant to continue now, probably afraid of upsetting me. I guess it was obvious that this news had had an effect on me. If I was human my heart would have been beating at twice its normal speed.

"OK, well, Diego was on the run. He had been sent on some reconnaissance mission by Riley. Something to do with a human girl the Forks coven had been protecting. Riley had wanted to know how many of them were protecting her. Well, Diego didn't even get close to finding out. He was chased off by enormous wolves, huge ferocious wolves, well, more than just wolves, _werewolves_."

My mouth was agape. "Werewolves?...I thought they were just mythological."

"Well be fair Bree, I'm sure you thought vampires were just mythological a few months ago."

I forced my mouth shut and smiled, bemused, "Yeah, I guess….."

"Well anyway, Shelly and me, well we didn't believe it either, but we did some research, on the internet," he glanced up to the ceiling, presumably indicating there was a computer upstairs. "The werewolf is a natural enemy of the vampire."

"You mean there is stuff on the internet about us?" I asked with a hint of disbelief.

"Mostly story-book stuff, you know, vampires sleep in coffins and only come out at night, that sort of thing." Steve raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

Fred had sauntered over now. "That doesn't make any sense. I mean how did Diego know they were werewolves?"

"He saw them phase, from a distance I mean. And here is another interesting thing. Werewolves are supposed to be creatures of the night too, supposedly they can only phase under a full moon, but this was broad daylight." Fred paused and then seemed to remember the story he was supposed to be telling. "Yeah, well, he had been hiding up in the mountains watching them. There was one that had darker skin and didn't look like he really belonged with the others. He, this dark-skinned one, had been carrying the human girl around in his arms before he took off on his own. Diego had tried to follow this darker skinned _vampire_, simply because he had gone off in a different direction to the others and it was less of a threat, but it turns out he wasn't a vampire after all. Later on he observed him meeting up with a couple of wolves and then he watched him _phasing_ into one of them. That was when they caught his scent and chased him to within inches of his life. Luckily for him he was able to escape into the ocean."

I wasn't really listening any more. Diego was alive. This was the single most important piece of news I had learned in weeks.

Fred, Steve and Shelly were discussing the whole vampire versus werewolf scenario. I heard Steve tell Fred that Diego hadn't been sure how many of them there were. He had been chased by three of them, but he had heard others in the distance, howling, so there were definitely more than three.

Apparently he had tried to return to rescue me. He had taken different routes into Forks but couldn't get past the wolves. I suddenly remembered the awful, almost painful howling I had heard while I had been under the charge of Jasper in the clearing that day.

"Um, the wolves were at the fight," I interjected.

"What?" Fred and Steve both said together. They had all turned to look at me now.

"Yeah, I know. I can't make any sense of it either...but I definitely heard wolves. I didn't see them. There was too much smoke from the fires that burned, and besides, I was ordered to shut my eyes..."

So maybe this had been what Jasper hadn't wanted me to see? That didn't make any sense either. No, it couldn't have been that, why would he not have wanted me to see the wolves?

"Do you do everything you are told to do Bree?" Steve laughed.

"Pretty much, yeah, when I am scared out of my life."

I was trying to piece it all together. There was a _family _of _vampires _living in Forks, protecting a _human_ pet. They had yellow eyes and were kind and compassionate. They were surrounded by _werewolves_ who chased off any strangers. Were the werewolves protecting the human girl too? One of the wolves had been carrying the human girl. Was the girl under the protection of the werewolves and the vampires actually had nothing to do with it? Were the Forks vampires some kind of vampire-wolf mutation? Is that why their eyes were yellow? I shook my head. No, that wasn't possible. They were definitely vampires. I could remember the smell. But I didn't know what werewolves smelled like – like dogs I suppose? I guessed my instincts would have told me if something had been wrong about their smell and that I would instinctively know what a werewolf smelled like if I encountered one, what with them being my natural enemy and all. I recalled that all I could really smell for sure on that day had been the sweet scented smoke from the vampire fire. Maybe this had completely masked out any trace of werewolf?

But if vampires and werewolves are enemies, then how come all of Riley's vampires died but the yellow-eyed family didn't. There had to be some connection. It was almost as if the yellow-eyed vampires and the werewolves were working together, but that wasn't possible, or was it? It was, as usual, not making sense.

My mind was clouded in any case. Not a good time to be trying to disentangle this unbelievable story. All I could really be sure of was that Diego hadn't been killed. He was alive, and he had tried to come back for me.

"So, Diego? Where was he heading, when you saw him? I asked.

"South," Steve replied. "He was going to South America, as far away as he could. We were just outside Seattle when we encountered him. Shelly and I had gone back to see if you lot were still hanging around, just out of curiosity really, but you had moved on, the last place we could find any trace of you, down near the river, was burned to the ground," Steve grinned and rolled his eyes. "How many houses did you lot get through?"

"Dunno, we lost count." Fred replied, laughing. He then turned to look at me. "Do you want to go south and see if we can find him?"

I did, I really did, but I had a sudden feeling of hopelessness. South America was huge. How would we find him? What if he didn't want to be found?

"He spoke very fondly of you Bree," Steve told me. "I wasn't sure who you were until you showed up here last night. That's why I did a double-take on your name. Don't know if you noticed?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, well I was surprised you were alive. Diego had been beside himself with anguish. He had tried to go back for you, several times he said, but whichever way he tried the wolves were guarding the area. He was sure you wouldn't have survived the fight. Anyway, he had asked us not to repeat any of the stories he told us to anyone. He said it suited him for people round here to think he was dead. He was going to try out a new existence in another part of the world. Thinking that you were dead, he didn't see any point in staying around. That's why we didn't let on right away...but ...well, when you said who you were we decided he would have wanted you to know."

So he did care for me. He had risked his life to try and save me. He had given up on any chance of rescuing me and the gone as far away as possible to try and put it all behind him. He had also known the fight was futile, that it was doomed before we even started. I think Riley had known it too, that's why he hadn't hung around. He had sent me off in the direction of the fight, telling me that Diego was down there already, giving me that false hope that he knew I wouldn't be able to resist, sending me to certain death, or so he thought. So Riley was a coward as well as a liar.


	6. Chapter 6 New Acquaintances

Chapter Six NEW AQUAINTANCES

We stayed with Steve and Shelly for a couple of weeks in the end, swapping stories about our lives since leaving Riley's coven. Steve and Shelly hadn't really gone very far at all. It seems we had all been attempting a similar existence, anonymity. Fred told them about my slip-up in Anchorage and why we had to leave. It had been kind of boring there anyway. We had no sense of purpose in Alaska so we probably wouldn't have stayed there long in any case I had told them, trying to play down my embarrassment. We had a purpose to our travels now. I was keen to find Diego but I was also aware we had no leads to follow, he could be anywhere. The fact that he was alive had entirely changed my outlook on life. We had all of eternity to find him, and we _would_ find him, even if it meant travelling the earth, which after all, had been the plan right from the start.

Steve and Shelly had been prepared to go with us back to Forks to see if we could add any more pieces to the jigsaw but I had been reluctant. I was still mindful of Victoria being on the loose and _she_ scared me more than anything, more than the prospect of being ripped to pieces by werewolves.

In any case, my priorities had changed. Diego was my main concern now.

I had noticed that Fred, while remaining friendly had put some distance between us since learning about Diego. He was cautious, and no longer attempted to hold my hand. I felt kind of sad about that. I didn't mind him holding my hand and I felt awkward that he may be a bit hurt at my obvious delight in hearing the news of Diego's existence. We had become quite close, Fred and I, but it was never going to be anything more than friendship. Fred had seen that and was acting accordingly.

It had been a while since I had noticed Fred using his special skill. I guessed he didn't need to in the relaxed and friendly company we were in. I had practised trying to use mine, but it really didn't work anymore. I had come to the conclusion that it only worked if I felt genuine fear or anger, or some other strong emotion. I had asked Fred not to say anything to Steve and Shelly. I didn't want to appear to be showing off, that we both had skills and they apparently didn't, so I had little opportunity to test out my theory.

Fred had asked Steve and Shelly if they wanted to come with us to South America but they had declined. They were happy where they were and would be staying in Vancouver indefinitely. They would welcome us back after our travels if we were passing through again, probably sometime in the next decade, or even the next century, we had joked.

We travelled south, exploring every corner of Mexico and Central America as we passed through. It had been harder here to remain inconspicuous. Even with the winter approaching there was generally much more sun, so it meant daytime exploits were out of the question. It was December when we reached Columbia. We knew this because there were preparations for Christmas. There was a buzz of excitement from the humans. We had to be extra cautious with our hunting as we didn't want to be responsible for ruining any family's Christmas with the grief of losing a loved one.

Fortunately there was dense forest in Columbia so were able to travel in daytime, sheltered by the shade from the canopy of the trees above us. We travelled through Columbia to Venezuela. There was still no trace of Diego, but we had known it was never going to be easy. We didn't give up. We had come across the odd nomad vampire from time to time on our travels, but none of them knew of Diego. They kept themselves to themselves pretty much and seemed to resent our company so we didn't outstay our welcome. They hadn't been hostile, but they hadn't exactly been enthusiastic about our presence either.

After a couple of days travelling through Venezuela we had encountered a large jovial nomad vampire called Samuel. It was near a town call San Fernando. He had been extremely cordial and helpful. He had come across Diego in Brazil, in the Amazonian Rainforest. He had spent a few days hanging out with him before coming north to Venezuela. "I never stay very long in one place," he had told us. He had been around for a couple of centuries and had been to most places on earth at least twice, except Antarctica, he mused "Nothing there but penguins."

Diego had told him the story of how he had been created, the original purpose of his creation, the loss of his _girlfriend_ and how he had come south to try and put the past behind him. He had also mentioned the frightening episode with the werewolves. Samuel told us he had encountered werewolves in Northern Europe many years ago and they were definitely the most unpleasant creatures on this planet, especially if you happen to be a vampire.

I felt oddly warmed that Diego had referred to me as his _girlfriend_. As the weeks had passed, the distance between us and the time that had elapsed had put doubts about Diego's feelings for me in my mind. I found it hard to understand why Diego had travelled so far to get away from the past. I had to remind myself that Diego thought I was dead. Just like when Fred and I had headed to Alaska, when I had believed that Diego was dead. You sort of had to put it out of your mind and find other things to occupy your mind during the endless days and nights.

Samuel knew of the family that we had been created to destroy, albeit unsuccessfully. "Well, actually, I don't know the entire family, I only know the good doctor. I knew him before he had a family. Must be a hundred years ago, maybe more."

"Carlisle? He is a doctor?" I asked. "Do vampires get sick?"

"No, he is a doctor for humans, I believe he currently works in a hospital back in Forks, Washington." Samuel gestured vaguely in the direction of north, "Although he has practiced medicine in many places. I hear about him in my travels. He is well known in the vampire world. One of a kind really."

"A doctor for humans?" I repeated in disbelief. "How does that work?" How could a vampire work in a hospital? I tried to picture myself in that situation and decided the patient mortality rate would be rather grim.

"It's true little one," Samuel nodded. "You see, _Doctor _Carlisle Cullen, and his family too, I guess, do not feed on the blood of humans. They feed only on animals."

"Ewwww, what?" I wrinkled my nose up in disgust.

"That was one of the reasons Carlisle left the Volturi," Samuel continued. "He didn't like their ethics, and couldn't persuade them to follow his diet."

"Carlisle was part of the Volturi?" I found myself asking. This yellow-eyed, doctor with the unusual diet really was a mystery.

"Yes, he was. A long, long time ago though."

"So has he always had this um, this strange diet then?"

"For as long as he has been a vampire, and I believe that is over three hundred years."

"So," Fred asked with genuine interest. "He completely survives on animals? No humans at all? Is that even possible?"

"As far as I know, none at all. It has taken him centuries of practice to be able to do what he does. Don't ask me how or why, it is just the way he is. It is his _thing_"

I was sure Samuel was making this stuff up, just to see my reaction. But it was too incredulous to make up. I resisted the urge to laugh because I didn't want to offend him. My face must have been an absolute picture though, Fred's too, although he was looking more _interested _rather than horrified.

"Fascinating," Fred whispered. "Cool." He pondered for a moment, "I wouldn't mind having a go at that. I have always felt repulsed at killing humans, even when I was first created. I mean, I had to, instincts and all that, but I still felt ill at ease with it, even back then when the bloodlust was so strong."

Fred had lost the plot I thought. "Each to their own," I said, and screwed my face up a little. And then I thought about the human girl they protected and suddenly it made sense, well, sort of. They didn't kill her because she wasn't part of their regular diet, but I couldn't imagine what kind of self-restraint would be needed to achieve this. I could remember the scent on the battlefield all those months ago, recalling it instantly like it was just yesterday. How could they ignore the sweet smell of her blood, the sound of her heart pumping all that sweet blood around her body? It would be too much to bear. After all why bother? What was so special about this human?

"Two of Carlisle's family were in these parts a few days ago actually," Samuel told us, changing the subject quickly before Fred got too eager. I think Samuel was as uncomfortable with the idea of the Cullen's diet as I was, judging by the way he mimicked me in screwing up my face just now. "I ran into them shortly after I had seen your friend, Diego."

It occurred to me they might have been looking for me, seeking revenge on me for escaping.

"Really?" I asked cautiously. "Which two?"

"A petite dark-haired female, I think her name was Alice, and a blond male companion, covered in battle scars. More scars than I've had human dinners!" He laughed.

I gasped, "Jasper."

"Yeah, that was it, Jasper," he pulled his brows together ,"Know him do you?"

"Er yes, we were introduced to each other, sort of," and I tried not to remember his cold hard stare, or the fact that he wanted me dead!

I also remembered hearing the name Alice being mentioned on that day in the clearing. Samuel was trying to remember something about her. "I didn't really pay too much attention to _him_, the girl was much more interesting. She had some kind of special power, like the ability to see into the future or something – she was very anxious about something, very jumpy."

"What were they doing all the way down here?"

"Trying to drum up some support for a child they have in their family. I'm not really sure. They are in trouble with the Volturi or something over it. I didn't get too much of the story, having made my apologies to them, they moved on pretty quick. They were in a real hurry. They were off to the rainforest too, I think they were going to seek out the Amazonian coven. As I said, Alice was extremely anxious. She had said she could see that I wasn't going to join them so she bade me farewell."

"A child?" I repeated, slowly. I immediately assumed they had another human addition to their family. Or maybe it wasn't exactly a child, maybe it was connected with the human girl they protected. You could hardly call her a child, but I knew how stories could get twisted sometimes and Samuel was obviously one for telling colourful stories. Maybe this was why the Volturi wanted Carlisle and his family destroyed. After all, vampires were not allowed to expose themselves to humans and hadn't Carlisle done just that, by keeping this human as a _pet_, as Riley had put it?

"Look, I don't really know much about it, I didn't want to get involved. They didn't bother to give me the full story once I made it clear I wasn't going to help them. I don't court any trouble with the Volturi. It wasn't my battle to get involved in. I feel bad, because Carlisle is good, through and through, but if he is in trouble with the Volturi, anyone who sides with him risks death."

"Yeah, we haven't been around too long in this world but already we gather the Volturi are not to be messed with," Fred said.

"You got that right son," Samuel agreed.

We spent a couple of days with Samuel in San Fernando. He was such an interesting character it was hard not to keep asking questions. He told us how he got around from continent to continent, stowing away on ships, "Merchant ships are the best. More places to hide. Less chance of being found," he had told us. "Of course, I've stolen the odd boat occasionally too, well borrowed, actually. The owners were quite welcome to have it back, but they may have to travel a few miles to collect it," he had added, laughing.

For two newbies like us, he was astonishing to listen to. He told us many stories about the Volturi and how they put a stop to illegal practices. He told us about the armies of newborns that had been created in the Southern States of America round about the time of the Civil War. There had been massive fights for control over the towns and the right to feed in them. He hadn't wanted to be a part of it so he had kept well out of the way, choosing to use this time to travel across Europe. The Newborn armies had grown so fast and they were out of control. The Volturi had stepped in and put a stop to it. It sounded like a familiar story, except that in our story the Volturi had been condoning the violence to a point, using Victoria to do their dirty work. Samuel wasn't surprised by this. "The Volturi are corrupt to the core these days," he said. "Power has gone to Aro's head." He shook his head sadly.

Samuel, whilst claiming not to know anything about Carlisle's _child_, had a theory about it. I wondered whether this was based on something Carlisle's envoy had actually told him, or whether it was pure speculation. He thought it they may be keeping an immortal child. He went on to explain that a while back some vampires had created vampire children, to make their families complete, so to speak. The immortal children had been too young to learn how to behave and had gotten out of control, risking exposure of our kind to the humans. The Volturi had destroyed them all, including their creators and had thereby decreed that the creation of immortal children was illegal. "So, you see why I didn't want to get involved. If Carlisle has been foolish enough...well, I just wasn't keen to travel thousands of miles to face the wrath of the Volturi. It's not my business."

"How do you create an immortal child?" I had asked. I had figured out all by myself back in the days of the basement life in Seattle that it would be impossible for a vampire to conceive or to carry a child. Yes, I knew I would never have children.

"You simply make a vampire out of a child. But of course, the child never matures. If the child is three years old, it will stay three years old for eternity. You do know how vampires are created?" He asked.

I nodded, "yeah ,sort of."

"I wonder someone didn't get into trouble for creating you," Samuel raised his eyebrows.

"I'm almost sixteen…..well I might have even been sixteen...I can't remember." I stiffened up to the inference that I was a _child. _However, I had to admit that technically I wasn't an adult either, so I softened and added, "Well, in any case, I don't think my creator was the sort who worries about breaking rules."

Samuel smiled sympathetically, "So you see little one, you will always be almost sixteen or maybe just sixteen, you will never grow any older. The children were _frozen_ at whatever age they happened to be at the time. It's a bit sick."

I admitted the idea of taking the life of one so young was pretty sick. It occurred to me that maybe that was why the Cullen's had wanted to spare my life. Well, Carlisle and the woman had. Jasper hadn't been so keen. Maybe they desperately wanted a child in their family and I was the closest they could get to that. They could have a child in their family, well, almost a child, without getting into trouble over it. I remembered them being anxious that the Volturi didn't think that they had created me. Maybe when I had run away they couldn't bear to be without a replacement for me and so they had done this thing which had angered the Volturi. If indeed, if this was what Carlisle had done then I guessed he had it coming to him. It was inexcusable and I couldn't see what good it was going to do sending two members of his family half way around the world to find allies.


	7. Chapter 7 Thrilling

Chapter Seven THRILLING

Fred and I said goodbye to Samuel on 1st January. "Happy New Year!" he had called out to us as he waved goodbye, "Go safely!"

Samuel had told us that most vampires would not be hostile if we didn't feed on their territory, but we should be wary. He was able to travel around unchallenged because he had been in existence for so long that his scent was well known. He was welcome in most places because he was known not to cause anyone problems.

He had been interested to hear of our skills, well Fred's mainly because mine was secondary to his, and I still hadn't had the chance to figure it out entirely. Samuel was convinced though that I would be able to use it if the need arose. He had told us to use our skills until we were sure any vampire wasn't going to attack. As newbies we may be seen as a threat.

It hadn't occurred to us that Christmas had been and gone and it was the start of another year. Not that it really mattered. My last Christmas, when I had still been human, had been a non-event in any case, as were most of the Christmases I could recall. But it was important to keep track of the years. Or was it? Did it matter? I wasn't entirely sure at this stage in my early second life, but I decided I would always remember that this particular New Year, my first as a vampire, would be remembered as the year I was in Venezuela, about to re-embark on my mission to find Diego.

Samuel had been most helpful and we had enjoyed our stay with him. He was so easy going. It was easy to see how the life of a nomad suited him. He was beholden to no-one, hence his reluctance to participate in whatever mission was being organised on behalf of Dr Cullen. He considered this was the reason he had been around for so long. He kept his nose out of other's business, kept to the law, and strove not to be a nuisance to anyone. He told us that if we could follow the same ethics we would have nothing to worry about.

While he was keeping his nose out of everyone's business, it seemed he wasn't averse to a bit of gossip along the way. Nor, I was sure, did he avoid embellishing some of the stories he picked up while minding his own.

Still, he had been friendly and harmless enough I decided. No doubt we would run into him again at some point in our immortal lives.

Fred was obsessed with the idea of an animal diet. I wasn't entirely convinced it wasn't a slight elaboration on the truth. However it suited Fred to consider it. I remembered a few months back how Fred had jokingly said we could try drinking Reindeer blood when I had been parched just outside of Anchorage. I chastised myself for allowing the anger to flare up in me as it had at the time, but I had been a lot less mature in those days. I could go four or five days now between hunts. The pain that built up in my throat, the fire that raged, was still just as prevalent, but I could ignore it so much easier now. It was just a matter of concentration. Mind over matter.

At least we had a tenuous lead now for Diego. He had been last seen in Brazil, just outside of Rio de Janeiro, heading north. Well, aside from the fact that Brazil was one of the largest countries in the world, it was better than what we had to go on before.

Samuel had said he was heading to the Amazonian Rainforest. I failed to see why. What was it about the Amazonian rainforest that seemed to attract vampires? Surely there wouldn't me much of a food supply there? Samuel had mentioned an Amazonian coven so presumably it was possible to survive there. Diego might even be there by now, or maybe he was still somewhere in between. Either way, we decided it made sense to head for the Amazonas first and work our way down. That in itself wasn't going to be easy. The Amazonas region of Brazil itself was about five times the size of Washington State!

It was also inhospitable. Not that I minded the forest, I was pretty much used to that. But it was largely uninhabited, which meant I was constantly thirsty, which in turn meant that I was constantly irritable. My doubts about the rainforest had been reinforced. Why would anyone want to visit here, let alone live here?

Fred was beginning to annoy me too. His permanent optimism served to make me insufferably cynical. I gave up trying to convince him that an animal diet was wrong. What was the point? He was determined to have a go, so I may as well let him try. At least he would shut up about it then. How long had we been trawling through this God-forsaken wilderness anyway? Ten days? Two weeks? I had only been able to quench my thirst a couple of times. Fred had declined on the second occasion since the food supply was so sparse. He had graciously decided to leave the pickings for me. So when he chased off in pursuit of a cougar that had hissed at us from a short distance between the trees I left him to it, knowing he must be in dire need of a meal by now. Besides, if he wanted to use up all his resources chasing after a stupid animal, I didn't really want to be part of it. No doubt he would return soon enough, still as thirsty as when he had suddenly darted off. Either that or the cougar would kill him. Either way, I didn't particularly care.

I was surprised then when he sprang into my view about twenty yards away on top of a tall tree stump with a huge grin on his face. Only ten minutes or so had passed since he had left my side. "Hey Bree!" he called, overflowing with excitement. "You've got to try this. What a thrill!"

He jumped down triumphantly and landed right in front of me, unable to contain his excitement. "What?" I snapped. "So now you are suddenly converted are you?" I noticed that his shirt was ripped in two places and he was splattered in blood from his kill. The cougar had put up a bit of a fight I presumed.

He could sense my annoyance so he dampened his exuberance somewhat. "Er no, but it's definitely better than being thirsty. Anyway, killing humans is not only wrong, but it's kind of boring, they don't present much of a challenge."

"Good," I retorted. "Can we move on now please? I would like to find Diego some time soon."

"Aw Bree, don't be like that. Look, I wouldn't say I could survive on it, but it is definitely more challenging and, well, it's just makes mealtimes more fun. The thrill of the chase I guess. You should at least try it before you rule it out completely."

"Huh!" I retorted and set off, not really bothered whether he was following or not. He was of course, but a few paces behind.

I wondered how long I could go before I simply _had_ to give it a try. We hadn't passed a human settlement for days, but I wasn't ready to give him the satisfaction just yet.

We trudged on for a few more hours, hardly speaking. I was beginning to feel a little remorseful for my anger towards him. Why should I begrudge him wanting to give it a try? Fred had a real problem with killing humans, like he didn't want to be a monster or something. That wasn't something I should chastise him for. He was trying to do the right thing, to be a good monster. Wasn't I being just a little bit childish? The fire in my throat was making me irrationally stubborn and ill-tempered. "Sorry Fred," I offered, "I'm not much fun to be with am I?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead he caught hold of my arm and swung me round to face him looking me earnestly in the eyes, "Just give it a try Bree. You'll be surprised."

"Ok," I nodded, "Fine!"

"It made me feel a lot better, honestly. Completely took the edge of my thirst and replenished my energy."

I looked away from him into the trees. "OK, I said I'd give it a try and I will." I think my tone may have sounded a little exasperated.

He was getting carried away again now, "Right, good!"

And then he was sniffing the air around us, "Right, first you have to identify and locate your prey."

I pretended to follow what he was doing, but I wasn't really concentrating. I really wasn't that interested.

"Got it?" he asked.

"Nope, nothing," I replied rather dully, hoping he would give up.

"Come on, try harder," he encouraged. "And don't try that memory-trick thing on me again."

He shot me a wary glance and squinted his eyes slightly. This brought a bit of a smile to my face.

Then after a short pause, with his head cocked on one side as if testing me for a reaction, he said, "I didn't say anything earlier because you were in such a foul mood, but earlier, after I had my first cougar, you completely obliterated my memory of it for a while." He was smiling again now.

"I did?" I didn't really remember doing it. All I remembered thinking was that I wished he wouldn't keep going on about it. It hadn't occurred to me that the reason he was quiet was because I had erased his memory. Now it was my turn to smile.

"Yes, you did, spoilsport. I couldn't honestly even remember how I got blood on my shirt. I don't know how you do it, but it really is quite powerful when you put your mind to it!"

"I don't even remember doing it," I marvelled.

I tried to recall what I had done. Nothing came to mind. So was it something beyond my control? Hardly a skill if it wasn't something I could control.

"We should work on it Bree, it could be really useful. Anyway, back to the cougar. You're not going to do it again are you?"

I shook my head.

"Good, or I may have to repel you," he warned, smiling.

"Right, OK, focus..." he continued once he could see he had my attention. "There are some large rodents east of us, capybara probably, ignore them, they won't be worth the effort. There are some smallish deer that way which you may want to try. Easy prey but not wholly satisfying," and he pointed vaguealy north. "Or, if you want a challenge, there is another cougar about thirty feet due west."

"How do you know all this Fred?" I asked.

"I don't know – it's just instinctive I guess."

I sniffed in the direction of the cougar and sure, I could smell it. I couldn't have pin-pointed it as a cougar, but I dare say I would remember the smell for next time. Ugh! I sincerely hoped there wouldn't be a next time. I quickly sniffed the air in the other direction where the deer -like creatures were. I could differentiate between the scent of the carnivorous cougar and the herbivorous deer and decided the cougar would be more satisfying.

"How do you...?" I was suddenly frightened of taking on the cougar, with its sharp teeth and claws. I glanced at the rips in his shirt. "How do you kill a cougar?"

"Don't worry Bree, you'll know what to do." He held me by the shoulders and looked intently into my frightened eyes. "Instincts, remember. We are hunters. Just like them, only smarter."

"Awww do I have to?" I pouted.

"Yes, I want you to give it a try. You promised, and besides, I don't know where our next human encounter will be and you need the energy."

I hesitated. I imagined the cougar ripping my arms off, then my legs and finishing off with my head. I could picture my broken body lying on the mossy ground. I toyed with the idea of messing with his head again, to make him forget what we were about to do, but I wasn't really sure how to do it voluntarily and besides I really was hungry and needed blood, and the blood of animals was all that was on offer at the moment.

"Trust me," Fred encouraged. "Just sink your teeth into its neck quickly. Don't give it a chance to turn on you. It will be fine. I'll be right behind you just in case. It won't stand a chance with two of us."

I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't needed Fred's help at all. I was surprised at how easy it had been once I had allowed my sharp hunting techniques to take over. I had startled it and had to give chase. The cougar had much sharper senses than a human. I wasn't used to having to chase my prey, but speed isn't a problem to vampires. I was surprised at the joy I had experienced in the chase, the anticipation of the kill. The cougar had been quite palatable too. Nowhere near as desirable as the sweet taste of human blood that I had craved so much, but definitely better than I had expected.

I couldn't hide my triumphant pleasure from Sam, even though I had wanted to. He had left me to my kill once he could tell I wasn't in danger and had veered off in the opposite direction to take a couple of the deer. He returned a few minutes later wiping the blood from around his mouth "No competition," he had said. "Its wild cats every time for me!" he added, laughing.

I suppose I was used to second best. I hadn't exactly had the best start in life as a human. We hardly ate steak every night. I was used to feeling hungry. Indeed, the last few weeks of my human life had been nothing but hunger, having to survive on whatever scraps I could muster. So nothing changes much then, I grumbled to myself. Still, I was quietly satisfied with my efforts. Even though I was still craving a decent _human_ meal, my energy level had been replenished and we could continue our search for my friend, Diego.

So this was how Dr Cullen and his family survived. I wasn't convinced it was possible to completely abstain from human blood, the craving was still there, painfully so, but it was possible for a short while, when the absence of human life made it necessary.

Fred was more determined. He was certain he could live like this. Only time would tell.


	8. Chapter 8 The Trail

Chapter Eight THE TRAIL

We flitted through the forest for what seemed like weeks, searching in vain for Diego. It was only days, of course. The absence of any real nourishing food made the whole experience painful. My throat seemed to be permanently on fire. Animals were adequate for sheer existence I supposed but it was humans I craved. Fred was coping so much better than me it seemed. When we had happened across a small village Fred had completely refrained from taking any of the villagers, and much worse than that, he had applied so much guilt in my direction that I felt I had no choice to abstain too.

So, I wasn't in the best of moods when our luck had changed. I had been hunting, animals, of course, when I had come across the scent of vampires. I knew instinctively there was more than one. I could pick out four individual scents, three of which I didn't recognise, but the fourth was unmistakably Diego.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I wasn't sure exactly where Fred was, although I knew he wasn't far. He had gone off in a different direction to hunt.

I had to figure out what I was going to do. Without Fred here to protect me with his repellent I was exposed, and therefore in danger.

I began to wish he wasn't hunting in the hope it would make him forget what he was doing. Eventually I figured he would find his way back to me. I had no way of knowing if my _skill_, as Fred referred to it, was working though.

My senses were working overtime. I was trying to pinpoint the direction that Fred was in, whilst at the same time, trying to sense the proximity of the other vampires. Did I need to be frightened? I wasn't sure. If Diego was _with_ the others then I would have nothing to fear, but what if they had captured him? There were three of them and they could easily have killed him. That was an entirely different matter, fraught with danger.

Where was Fred, what was keeping him? I listened out with my super senses for any sign of him. I decided height would give me an advantage so I climbed a tree, scaling the rough bark with ease. Within a few seconds I was about 50 feet above the ground. Once up in the canopy I glanced around. As I jumped to another tree to get a better view I disturbed a family of spider monkeys who chattered and squawked in irritation, making a terrible disturbance. Nice one! So much for stealth I thought to myself.

It was quiet again soon enough though. All I could hear was the sound of the insects going about their daily business, doing whatever it was that insects did. I tried again to concentrate. I tuned out the sound of the insects and listened for other sounds, my eyes peeled for any movement.

I instinctively followed the sound of a fairly loud solitary heart-beat. I had no idea why, I think as a vampire I must have been drawn to it. It was clearly not human, but nevertheless it pulled me towards it. I moved silently from tree to tree until I spied the source of the sound. It was a cougar, probably the one Fred had been chasing. And then there, all of a sudden was Fred, just fifteen feet behind it. I was going to call out to him, but I didn't want to distract him as it was clear from the way he approached it what his intention was.

I watched with awe at the ease with which my accomplice attacked the wild cat, killing it outright. I began to descend the tree, whispering Fred's name when I got near the bottom, remembering that there was danger present in the form of three unknown vampires.

"Oh, Bree, there you are. What do you think you were doing?" He turned to look at me. His tone was a little scornful, but he was smiling.

I thought he had meant why I was up a tree. "Well I climbed up to see if I could find you. Also there..." I was going to tell him about the vampires but he cut me off.

"No, I mean messing with my memory when I am just about to make a kill."

"Oh, you mean it worked?" I asked, a little awkwardly.

"Yeah, completely. I didn't have a clue what I was doing. There was just me and this big cat and I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do. It's a good job I'm not human or I would have been cat food. I had to start all over again."

"Sorry Fred. I panicked and didn't know what to do. I didn't think for one minute it would work."

"Why, what's up?"

I told him about the vampire trail I had crossed. How I wasn't sure if they were friendly, or hostile. That Diego's scent had been there too but again, I didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"What if they have killed him?" I asked, with panic creeping into my tone again.

"You are such a pessimist Bree. Why do you always think the worst?"

"Don't know, just the way my luck goes I think."

"You are the luckiest person I know Bree," he said laughing gently.

"I am?"

"Yeah, you have me for company," and then he grinned, "Come on, let's go find Diego!" and he danced off in the direction that I had pointed out just now, to the place where I had crossed the scent.

I wished I had his optimism, not to mention his courage. I didn't think he had thought it through. There were three of them, and they would be better fighters than us. We were still newbies and had little practice at combat. I put this to him.

"But we have our skills Bree. Yours is extremely powerful, obviously." he rolled his eyes as he said this. "I was rendered helpless back there. I had to block you out in the end, and that wasn't easy."

"That's why I couldn't find you then I guess," I pondered. "You weren't actually all that far away from me. I just couldn't find you because you were repelling me."

We were following the scent now. It was fairly recent. It didn't necessarily follow in a straight line, nor did the four of them all seem to move together. Maybe they had been chasing Diego through the forest. I shuddered to think of it. Diego being hounded by three savage vampires and us following like lambs to the slaughter.

It was only a short while before we realised that we were on the wrong trail. The scent was getting weaker. We must have taken off in the opposite direction. We had a fifty-fifty chance and, of course, took the wrong option. We were chasing after the direction they had come from, not going to.

"A newbie mistake I guess," Fred had said with a big sigh.

We had come to an abrupt standstill at the entrance to a manmade clearing. An area the size of a football field had been cleared by loggers. The whole area had been decimated. I didn't pause for long to think about the destruction of the rainforest , because my attention had been drawn to two figures at the opposite end of the clearing. They didn't appear to notice us though, they were not even looking in our direction.

Tension momentarily filled the atmosphere. But all the tension was coming from Fred. He was in a defensive posture, hissing sounds coming from deep inside his body. I had recognised them, well, one of them anyway. I still wasn't sure if this was a good thing, but at least I was fairly sure we wouldn't be attacked.

"It's ok Fred," I whispered, a slight tremor in my voice. "Well, I think so anyway. You can switch that off now." I was referring, of course, to the repulsion that must have been emanating outwards from the pair of us, explaining why the other figures had been looking anywhere, but in our direction.

Fred relaxed. The immediate danger was over. He straightened up and turned to look at me with an expression which seemed to be asking for further information.

The other two vampires had reached us by now. In the split second it had taken for Fred to relax his posture, they had positioned themselves right in front of us, about ten feet away. I hadn't even seen them move. I didn't have time to give Fred the explanation he was looking for.

"We meet again," the tall dark blond warrior who I had recognised from across the field said in a reproachful tone.

I couldn't speak. His amber-eyes looked harsh and the scars which covered his arms and face seemed very threatening. I nodded and lowered my head to cut out his glare.

His female companion had short dark spiky hair which gave her a pixie-like appearance. She was exceptionally pretty though I thought, and her eyes, the same amber colour as her companion bore no malice.

"Hi, I'm Alice." She said cheerfully. "You must be Bree?"

I looked up and smiled at her, nodding again. She had turned to look at Fred now, "And you are?"

"Fred," he said and he reached forward to shake hands.

"I'm sorry," was all I could mutter, "You know, about leaving..."

"No problem," Jasper interjected rather stiffly ."As it turns out I think you made the right choice."

"Oh," was all I could manage, and then I muttered, "Thanks." It seemed I had been forgiven.

"The Volturi would have killed you. We wouldn't have been able to stop that. They were anxious that none of the newborns had survived. We assured them we had got them all." He looked very satisfied with himself about this. For the first time I thought I saw a glimmer of a smile on his face, albeit a smug one.

"The Volturi," I added, remembering one of the conversations I had heard, "they wanted Victoria to destroy you. They gave her a deadline."

"Yes, we know," Jasper nodded, looking very grave again.

Now it was Alice's turn to speak. "Our brother, Edward, read their minds," she explained.

She spoke that line like it was perfectly normal to have a brother who could read minds. I suppose it was in the vampire world.

"What are you doing here?" Jasper asked with a touch of hostility returning to his tone. Or maybe I just imagined it. He seemed more curious, rather than angry.

"Oh, we're looking for a friend. We were following his trail which led us here, but we have been coming the wrong way," Fred explained. "We were just going to do an about-turn when we came across you."

Jasper looked around, his nose taking in the various scents that filled the space in the clearing around us. He nodded in agreement.

"You will find him," Alice said confidently and cheerfully. She was smiling and nodding ."I have seen it."

Alice was the psychic. I suddenly remembered Samuel telling us about her ability to see into the future.

I returned the smile. "Thank you."

"Alice, we really should make a move now..." Jasper urged.


	9. Chapter 9 Answers

Chapter Nine ANSWERS

Alice looked anxious and stared into an empty space as if trying to see something that wasn't there. I guessed she was having one of her premonitions. She looked concerned and then agreed with her partner. "Yes, there is little time, they are coming." And then she looked at me and nodded. "Lovely to meet you but we have got to spilt."

"Wait!" I started, a little amazed at my sudden bravery and outspokenness, not quite sure where it came from.

Alice and Jasper had already disappeared into the forest in the direction we had come from.

"Yes?" the high soprano voice of Alice sang through the trees.

"Sorry," I stuttered. "I don't want to hold you up, but I have so many questions."

"Well, you are welcome to come with us, but try and keep up." Jasper had returned to the edge of the clearing and motioned for us to follow him. "Come, we can talk on the way."

Fred and I followed them swiftly as we dodged the trees and rocks which made up the vast majority of the forest floor. My mind had gone completely blank. I had so many questions and so little time it seemed, to ask them, that I didn't know where to start.

"Who is coming?" Fred asked, as if aware of the awkwardness of the silence and maybe hoping that his question might start an exchange.

Alice and Jasper shared a quick exchange and Jasper nodded at his partner.

"The Volturi."

This was not what I wanted to hear, I shuddered at the image I had of the evil cloaked clan. I gasped. Surely not again? How could I be so unlucky?

"Oh don't worry Bree, they are not after you, though they may be interested to learn of your existence, however I think you are mature enough now for them not to bother too much." Alice smiled in an effort to comfort me. "Besides, I cannot see them hurting you. They have other priorities."

"So, who are they after then? You?"

"No, not us, not _this_ time_._" She rolled her eyes as she said this. "Although it is connected, sort of..."

"It's not to do with your child then?" Fred asked. I hadn't wanted to ask this question, a little unsure of how much we were supposed to know about this.

Jasper shot him a quizzical glance.

"We encountered a nomad called Samuel a while back, who told us your story," Fred explained.

This seemed to satisfy them. They looked at each other and nodded.

It still seemed odd to me that we could hold this meaningful conversation and exchange of knowledge whilst travelling at break-neck speed through trees and dense undergrowth. It was one of those things that vampires got used to after a while. We didn't really need to concentrate on obstacles, our instincts guided us.

"The Volturi are after a vampire called Joham, a nomad of sorts, but he stays around these parts mostly." Jasper informed us, as if anticipation our next question. "Have you come across him?" he asked.

"No," we replied almost together, and then I felt the need to add, "Sorry."

"No matter," Jasper said. "I wasn't really expecting you to. He is notoriously difficult to find. In any case it is not him we are looking for, it is his son, Nahuel."

We hadn't heard of him either. Our blank expressions needed no further confirmation that we hadn't a clue who Nahuel was, nor why Alice and jasper would be looking for him.

Alice continued where Jasper had left off. "We have come to warn him, that's all. The Volturi are likely to kill his father. I don't think Nahuel will mind too much about that but he will want to protect his sisters."

"What has his father done then?" Fred asked, "Joham, was it?"

"Yes, Joham." Jasper seemed to speak the name with more than a little contempt. "He is experimenting with our species, trying to create a new race of vampire human hybrids. The Volturi have recently learned about this and want to speak to him, however Alice has seen a vision of something a little more unpleasant that just _speaking _to him."

Alice made a gesture of a throat being cut and grimaced. "The details are sketchy," she explained. "My visions don't really work terribly well if I don't know the people involved. Of course, I know Aro, he's one of the Volturi elders," she explained, guessing that I wouldn't know who Aro was. "I know what his intentions are, however I don't see what happens to Nahuel's sisters. I cannot see them in my visions."

"Wow!" Fred exclaimed, "Must be really cool to see the future."

Alice seemed very pleased with herself ."It comes in handy," she admitted.

We were still following the trail left by Diego and the three other vampires. We had gone past the starting point of our trail now. "This trail we are following?" I asked, "Do you know who the three other vampires are, the ones that appear to be with my friend?"

"Sure," Alice replied with confidence, "It's the Amazonian coven. I would recognise it anywhere having spent some time in their company very recently. We also spent a good while trying to find them not so long ago, so it is easy for us to recognise their scent."

"Are they friendly?" I asked, hesitantly.

Alice smiled, "Why yes". She seemed to chuckle at my question, and then, by way of explanation she offered, "Most vampires are. However, as newbies you do need to be cautious. Not only are you relatively unknown, but you pose a little bit more of a threat. Most newborns are unpredictable and older vampires are naturally wary, that's all. It's defensive, you see."

Jasper added, "If you stick with us for the moment, until we find the Amazons, you will be fine."

"You are looking for the Amazons?" I asked. I had assumed they were just following the trail with us until they found Nahuel's, expecting them to flit off in another direction any moment.

"Yes, hopefully they will know where Nahuel is," Alice replied.

I had put off asking any more meaningful questions, Alice and Jasper had volunteered so much information already so surely they wouldn't mind answering one of my more burning questions. "This child that Samuel told us about?" I hadn't really asked a question, it was more of a statement really but Alice seemed to pick up the need for more information.

"Renesmee?" She offered.

"I don't know. Samuel didn't tell us. All he said was that he thought you were in trouble for creating a child. He said..."

"What did he say?" Jasper snapped, a little annoyed that someone was obviously spreading stories

"He said he had a theory, only a theory," I didn't want to land Samuel right in it, so I made sure Jasper knew it was only a theory, "Um, that you had created an immortal child."

"Is that what he is telling everyone? Thought as much." Jasper hissed. "It would have better if he had come to witness himself rather than making assumptions."

Fred and I were silent for a while, afraid of angering Jasper, suddenly more aware than ever of the scars that criss-crossed his arms, his neck, his face even.

We came to an abrupt halt. Jasper glanced at Alice, who appeared to be having another one of her premonitions. They seemed to have a brief exchange of unspoken knowledge, Alice shook her head and said "No problem, false alarm. They haven't arrived yet. They have just changed their minds about who to send. It appears Aro isn't coming himself."

"Come on," Jasper encouraged. "I think we are nearly there, the scent is getting stronger."

We set off again in silence. The trail left by the four vampires was indeed getting stronger. I wondered if Diego looked the same. Of course he would. Vampires didn't change their appearance, and although it had been more than six months since I had seen him, it would be as if it was yesterday. I wondered what the Amazonians would be like. How would they receive us? They had presumably accepted Diego. Alice had seen a vision of a reunion with him so I knew he must still be alive.

I still hadn't received a proper answer to my question and I was a little annoyed. Did I dare risk asking again? Would they think I was incredibly nosey? Jasper had inferred that the child was not an immortal; that Samuel had been making assumptions, but they hadn't given us any other explanation either. So what was she then? I presumed it was a _she_. It was a strange name, one I hadn't heard of before and one which I was now finding it impossible to recall, but it was definitely female. I decided to try a different approach. "So, the Volturi excused you then?" I ventured.

"Yes, eventually," Alice confirmed, "Although it was extremely close. If it hadn't been for Nahuel arriving when he did I think it may have gone horribly wrong." She shuddered and looked anxious. "That's why we feel we owe it to him to warn him now. I saw a vision of the Volturi coming here and I just wanted to make sure he had the opportunity to try and warn his sisters."

I wasn't really getting anywhere with this. Was Alice being deliberately evasive, or was she so preoccupied with her visions that it didn't occur to her that I didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about.

However, I wasn't about to give up. "I'm sorry Alice, I don't mean to seem nosey, but I don't understand. What has Nahuel got to do with your situation, I mean, how did his arrival cause the Volturi to change their minds?"

"I'll explain it all later," she promised, smiling, "All will be revealed. But now, we have arrived!" Her smile broadened and she gestured with her right arm almost fully extended. "Voila!"

Sure enough, just to the left of a small clearing, stood four vampires. Three tall, athletic dark skinned females and Diego. His skin, which I had thought was quite dark, looking pale against the Amazons.

"Bree!" He exclaimed "No, it can't be," and he was suddenly right in front of me, his eyes completely brimmed over with excitement.

We held each other's gaze like that for ages and then he reached forward and pulled me closer to him. The warmth that flowed through my body as he hugged me and caressed my back was almost human, it seemed.

I suddenly realised all eyes were on us. The Amazonians were looking on fondly, clearly Diego had told them about me as one of them spoke. "You must be Bree?"

I nodded. "Hi," I mumbled, struggling to get the word out with the unbelievably strong grasp that Diego held me in.

"I am Zafrina," the same one spoke again, "and this is Senna and Kachiri." She motioned towards the other two who each nodded in turn, smiling. What were their names again? I had forgotten already, but I smiled and nodded at them anyway, hoping I wouldn't be asked to recall their names.

One of the others spoke now. "Alice, Jasper. How lovely to see you again. What brings you here?"

Fred moved forward now and it occurred to me that he may have been excluding himself up until now in his very own special way, but I hadn't noticed. It seemed odd that the Amazonians hadn't asked for an introduction. Diego and Fred now shook hands. "Nice to see you again," Fred said. Diego smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for looking after her for me and bringing her to me safe," Diego said, warmly and then he glanced across at Alice and Jasper, who had now engaged the Amazons in eager conversation, obviously more interested in their mission rather than the jubilant reunion of three newborns.

It was so overwhelming to finally find Diego that I had temporarily forgotten my unanswered questions. All I wanted was to catch up on all that I had missed, all those months of anxiety, wondering if Diego would still feel the same, if he would still care for me. It was obvious he did.

"I thought you were dead," he whispered. "I came here to get away, to try and start a new life. I never stopped thinking about you though."

I couldn't speak. Relief swarmed through my entire body.

"I tried to come back for you..."

"I know," I managed to squeeze out. He looked at me questioningly so I simply replied, "Steve and Shelly told us."

And so we exchanged stories, about our travels, our acquaintances along the way. How Diego had encountered the Amazons a few weeks ago and they had invited him to stay with them for a while. He described the absolute horror of the wolves, the sheer size of them and how he had jumped off a cliff about two hundred feet high into the ocean to escape them. How he had tried four or five times to find his way back to the log cabin that housed the unruly mob, but each time he had been headed off by the wolves. How he had seen the purple smoke rising from the clearing, hanging there above the town of Forks and its surrounding woodland like a huge cloud of doom. How he had decided that it was all over, that it had ended badly, that he had to get away. He too was afraid that _she_ may take revenge on him. He seemed to be aware that _she_ had no intention of fighting _herself._

"Victoria, you mean?" I asked, intentionally speaking the name because Diego obviously didn't know it.

Alice and Jasper both swung around now at the mention of her name. Clearly it had the same horrific effect on them too.

"Victoria?" They both echoed simultaneously.

I nodded, "Yeah, the one who created us." They were both staring at me now.

"What about her?" Jasper asked in his contemptuous tone that he seemed to adopt, more often than not, it seemed to me.

"Diego was just saying he fled south to get away from her," I almost stuttered. "Us too, I guess," I added, gesturing to Fred and myself.

"Ah, I see." Jasper looked less severe now, his features softening . "Well, you needn't have worried. Victoria is dead, and her accomplice."

"Riley? He is dead too?" I asked, yet more relief spreading around my body, until I remembered the Volturi. I still had enemies, but two of them were dead, at least. "How?" I asked.

"Edward killed them," Alice chirped in, with her dancing soprano voice, making it sound like it was of little consequence. "Well, with a little help from the... wolves," she added, but she seemed to struggle to get the last word of the sentence out of her mouth. She screwed her nose up distastefully as if she were remembering some foul smell.

"The wolves?" Diego asked, with a disbelieving tone in his voice.

"Er yes, they kind of helped us a lot," Jasper added. The look on his face was a picture of distaste even though he was obviously grateful for their help.

So I had been right, the wolves I had heard in the clearing that day had been helping the Cullens. That explained why all of Riley's army, except for me, of course, had been killed, whilst the Cullens survived. I remember the conversation with Steve and Shelly, how they had said that the werewolf was a natural enemy of the vampire. I was piecing things together slowly, but it still didn't make much sense.

"But werewolves and vampires are enemies?" I spluttered out, aware that I was probably beginning to irritate Alice with all my questions.

"Yes, they are, normally..." Alice replied "But these are not true werewolves, merely shape-shifters, and yes, whilst we still remain enemies, they are, how shall I put it...more amenable to a truce than the pure werewolf. Besides, we had a common _friend_ to protect."

"The human girl," I stated. It was not a question, nor did I need an answer. I had finally put the last piece of the puzzle in place. It still made no sense, of course, but at least I was now in possession of all the facts.

"Yes," was all that Jasper offered.

A long silence ensued, broken by a question from one of the Amazons, whose name I couldn't recall "How is Bella? And Renesmee?"

_Renesmee_. That name I recognised. This was the child in question, the reason for all the fuss with the Volturi. I still hadn't gotten an answer to that particular line of questioning but maybe all would now be revealed. Bella was presumably the human.

"Oh they are fine, and send their regards. Renesmee never stops talking about you Zafrina," Alice chirped. "She wants you to visit again soon. She wants to see more of your pretty pictures."

Now I was completely lost. Pretty pictures? What was Alice talking about?

Alice suddenly tensed and stared into an empty space, her bright amber eyes darting from left to right , "Come on, we must go," she announced. "Will you lead us to them?" She looked at the Amazons.

"Sure," the one called Zafrina replied and suddenly they vanished.


	10. Chapter 10 The Final Pieces

Chapter ten THE FINAL PIECES

I made a swift decision that we needed to follow them. It seemed that just as I was about to unravel the entire mystery, Alice leapt into action, leaving me frustrated. I told myself it wasn't deliberate, she wasn't aware of me, or my frustration, she was just wholly focused on saving her latest Volturi victim. I quite liked her anyway, she seemed like she would be a good friend, and good fun to be with on a less serious occasion, but I still had unanswered questions and I knew I would never be at peace with myself until I had the whole story.

Diego was with me, right by my side as we fought through the dense undergrowth to catch them up. I knew then that this would always be the case. Diego and I would always be together. Any doubts that I had harboured in those few months of searching for him had been washed away by the emotions we had felt in our reunion. I could see it in his eyes. He felt the same. I came to a sudden stop suddenly remembering my other companion. "Fred!" I called loudly as I spun around, forgetting how good a vampires hearing was.

"OK, coming. No need to shout," called a voice from way behind us. "You could have warned me before taking off like that."

And then he was right with us. "I'll stay with you until we sort out whatever business they have here and then I'll go my separate way," he offered in a way that sounded like an apology.

I suddenly felt extremely guilty. Poor Fred, he had been such good company all through our epic journey south. We had become quite close, as friends. Since reuniting with Diego, I had hardly given him a second thought, had almost completely ignored him. Had he done that on purpose, had he masked himself to allow me some privacy?

"Aw there's no need for that Fred. Stay with us, for as long as you like," I assured him, smiling.

Diego conferred by nodding and adding, "Yeah, sure thing Fred, although you might want to turn that down a bit so we don't forget you are there," and he laughed.

Fred grinned. "Ok. Sorry, I was trying to be diplomatic, and then suddenly I was there on my own, instead of just wishing I was."

We hastened our pace again to try and catch the others. They were way ahead of us, but the trail was easy to follow. It had become more of a road, a dirt track, probably as a result of some of the deforestation that we had witnessed as we travelled through the Amazon. There was certainly evidence of man-made clearings and debris left behind by careless humans . I figured we were heading towards Rio now, although I had to admit, I hadn't been very good at Geography in school. I was looking forward to a human snack soon. With all the excitement of finding Diego and fitting some of the jigsaw together I had completely forgotten about my thirst, which now raged like a furnace in my throat.

Or was it the smell of humans that had triggered it? I was certainly aware of it now. The unmistakeable sweet scent of human blood, fresh venom was flowing freely in my mouth, completely over-riding any other thought processes, and right then, I knew I had to kill.

I veered off the dirt-track, swiftly followed by Fred and Diego. "Try and resist it Bree," Fred was calling out to me. I only vaguely heard him. As I climbed down the rocky terrain to where a fresh clearing had been made in the forest I could see we were not alone. The others were already there. Discarded remains of half a dozen humans lay heaped in a pile. I barely noticed the other vampires, I just concentrated on the two terrified humans who were backing away towards one of the huge trucks that had been driven there to remove the logs.

"Help yourselves," one of the Amazonian trio said. "We've had our fill."

I nodded quickly and then Diego and I made ready for our feast, crouching and hissing. A deep growl came from Diego as he lunged at one of them as he tried to climb into his truck. I chased after the other as he darted around the back of the truck.

"Aren't you going to...?" The same Amazonian asked Fred.

"Er, no. I'm ok, thanks."

"Don't worry, there are more along the way," she said.

"No, really I'm ok," Fred assured her. He didn't look ok though. He looked uncomfortable, as did Jasper I noticed as I finished my meal. Alice had turned her back to us and was heading back to the track.

"Quick, we can dispose of the bodies in the swamp behind the truck," one of the Amazons said.

"Food for the Cayman," the one called Zafrina agreed and the bodies were all removed as swiftly as the kill had been made.

"Um, thanks," I muttered ,"for sharing, I mean."

"No problem Bree," Zafrina said kindly. "There is plenty more where that came from. It is our way of controlling the deforestation," she explained with a wry grin on her face. "Of course, they keep sending more, but it at least slows the process. It will be a week or so before this lot are missed."

I had to smile to myself at the noble gesture to the protection of the planet that was being upheld here. Whilst the vampires would no doubt be seen as monsters by the human world, killing humans to sustain their existence, there were a few green crusaders who would probably condone the killings if it slowed down the decimation of the planet's natural resources.

I caught up with Alice who was waiting for the rest of us to join her on the dirt track. Diego had gone with the Amazons to make sure the bodies were buried in the swamp. Jasper remained motionless in the clearing. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking, his face was blank now. Fred was coming up behind me. I didn't need to look around, I could tell from his footsteps it was him.

"Sorry about that Alice," I offered. "I know it isn't your diet. I hope I didn't offend you?"

She looked distracted "Er no, it isn't. Don't worry, I'm ok with it though."

There was a pause and then she looked anxiously at Jasper who was just about visible through the sparsely scattered remaining trees. "I worry about Jasper," she confided, almost in a whisper. "He struggles a little with our diet sometimes."

"Oh," I said. Now I understood the look on his face. It was the longing for something forbidden, concentration and will-power.

"Does it not ever go away?" Fred asked her suddenly.

She looked surprised not only by his question, but by the intensity with which he had asked it.

"Not entirely." She looked a little sad and then continued,, "When I am with the rest of my family, it is easier. It is a way of life that we have grown used to and the thought of upsetting Carlisle and Esme after all they have done for us, well it doesn't bear thinking about. Poor Jasper struggles more than the rest of us though."

"Will you help me?" Fred asked her . "I am struggling too. I really wanted to dive right in there and had there been a spare human, I probably wouldn't have been able to stop myself."

"Yes, of course," Alice replied, smiling "But it takes years...years of practice and you have to be dedicated to it. You have to really want to succeed."

Fred assured he did.

While we were waiting for the others to return I decided it was a good time to ask one more question. "How do you do it Alice? How do you live with a human?"

She smiled sweetly and put one arm through mine and the other around Fred and led us away down the track. "Don't worry about them, they will catch us up in no time."

I could already hear them coming after us and I hoped they would give her enough space and time to continue her story.

"You see Bree, it is simply a question of love." She looked at me with such passion in her amber eyes, such intensity. "I love Bella, we all do. She is our sister, well, like a sister. When Edward first brought her into our lives it was clear that he would literally die for her. He almost did actually, but that's another long story. I would never do anything to hurt my brother and so we just accepted Bella as part of the family. It was fraught with danger, of course. There were times when I had to restrain Jasper." She paused as if she was trying to remember some of those times and her expression darkened.

"And then, of course there was the episode with James." She shuddered visibly.

I looked at her quizzically.

"James was Victoria's mate. A chance meeting with them started it all off really, the whole drama with the Volturi. James was a tracker. He wanted Bella badly, so bad he tracked us half way across America, to Phoenix, Arizona. Edward killed him, of course. But Bella ended up in hospital with a broken body and Victoria wanted her revenge. That was where you came in."

"Victoria's revenge?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes," she replied and then glanced around at Jasper who had now caught up with us. "I was just explaining to these two young ones how we lived with Bella when she was human."

Jasper appeared to snort. He raised his eyebrows and commented, "It's a lot easier now."

"So Bella's not human now?" I asked.

"No, Edward changed her right after she gave birth to Renesmee," Alice confirmed.

"So, Bella gave birth to a vampire child?"

"No, not exactly, Renesmee is half-human, half-vampire actually. The experience nearly killed her. Renesmee was too strong for her. She literally broke her body, from the inside out. She would certainly have died as a mortal, so Edward changed her into one of us, which was what Bella had wanted anyway. The venom healed her body." Alice reflected again on something dark and terrifying. Her pretty features became almost contorted with the pain of the memory of it. "Of course, the Volturi thought we had created an immortal child. They were tipped off by someone we had considered a friend, but we don't dwell on that, it wasn't entirely her fault."

"No, she wasn't aware of the facts," Jasper added. "That is why I was so annoyed about the nomad Samuel spreading stories, without the facts. It's dangerous."

"Ok, I understand that now," I told them

"So," Alice continued, "The Volturi sent their entire army, including the elders, to investigate."

Jasper snorted again. "Investigate, well, that's one way of putting it I suppose."

"Hmm yes," Alice continued, "It was more of a massacre they had in mind really. But jasper and I had been here drumming up support, witnesses to our claim that Renesmee was not an immortal child. Do you understand what I mean by immortal child Bree?"

I nodded, "Samuel told us."

"Yeah, that figures," Jasper grumbled.

"So, anyway, while Jasper and I were here we wanted to investigate the rumours that there were more of these hybrids in existence, only in South America. The Volturi had no knowledge of them and so it was a huge relief when we uncovered Nahuel and managed to persuade him to come with us. We got there just in the nick of time. Aro was about to pass sentence on the whole family, and those that stood with us too probably."

"Can they do that?" I asked with a gasp of horror, "I mean, just wipe out a whole family?"

"Oh yes," Alice replied, "They can do anything. Aro, Caius and Marcus have been assembling an army of warriors for centuries. They have amassed a formidable army, each one of them possessing special skills. And if you tried to run away, they have one called Demetri who is the best tracker in the vampire world, you wouldn't get very far."

"Oh, that was going to be my next question. I was wondering why you couldn't hide out somewhere," I admitted.

"They would find you," Jasper said. "No problem."

The Amazonians were leading the way again now. They hadn't been interested in hearing Alice's story so I presumed they knew it already. Diego had been. He had come up behind and linked arms with me when Alice had let go to hold Jasper's hand.

Alice turned to Jasper, "Are you ok now my brave warrior?"

"Yes, I'm ok now. It took me by surprise. How I felt back there. It was difficult." He sighed.

"So are you two a couple then?" Diego asked.

"Yes," Jasper replied with a hint of a smile on his face, and then he turned to Alice and for the first time I saw real warmth and compassion flood through his normally harsh features. He loved her, there was no doubt about that.

"Our family is made up of four couples," Alice volunteered. "There is Carlisle, our founder and leader, and his wife Esme."

"Yes, I met them," I told her. "That day..." I trailed off.

"And there is Jasper and myself," Alice continued, "Edward and Bella, our newest addition, who also now have Renesmee, and also Emmett and Rosilee. That is our family." She said this with such pride it was not difficult to see bond that existed between them all. "You should come and visit us," She added cheerfully.

"I had wanted to, a while back, to thank you for sparing me that day, but I was afraid you would be angry," I said, apologetically.

"Don't be silly. We spared you, that was the main thing. We were just a bit concerned about the wolves. When we didn't hear from you we were afraid the wolves had got to you, but we felt sure that they would have told us. The pack have no secrets from each other and Edward, well Edward communicates with the pack."

I looked at her with yet another questioning look and so she explained, "He can read their thoughts too," and then she frowned and added somewhat dejectedly, "It doesn't work so well for me though," and as I shot her another questioning look she said, "I can't _see_ them. They are outside of my range, so to speak."


	11. Chapter 11 Departures and Promises

Chapter Eleven DEPARTURES AND PROMISES

So I had finally managed to monopolise Alice's attention for long enough to get the full picture, well enough of it to satisfy my curiosity anyway.

Fred and Diego had listened intently while Alice had uncovered the story. They now seemed as deep in thought as I was, putting all the pieces together.

The Amazonians gestured that we were getting close.

"Good, about time," Alice said. "Yes, I can see it now, they are alone, good."

"Will you join us?" Jasper asked Fred, who had drifted off slightly from Diego and myself.

Fred turned around to us as if looking for a reply.

"Sure, why not, if you don't mind," Diego replied. "We have come this far."

I guessed we must be near to Rio by now. I could see distant city lights flickering in the basin below us as we skirted the edge of the forest. Wasn't that the coast I could pick out beyond the city? I could see the moonlight reflecting off the ocean.

One of the Amazonians now spoke out in Spanish or Portuguese, I wasn't sure which. I hadn't stayed in school long enough to learn either. I picked out the name Nahuel from the salutation.

Two figures, one male and one female stepped into our path in the distance. The way they had appeared from nowhere, and the grace with which they now moved towards us was unmistakeably that of a vampire, however, there was a human heartbeat drumming a solitary thud, thud, thud from the same direction. Yet Nahuel was a grown man, an adult. I had pictured him a child somehow. I knew at once then that he too was half-human and half-vampire.

"This is Nahuel and his aunt Hulien," Alice announced to us and then turning to the vampire and the half-vampire she introduced us to them, "Bree, Diego and Fred."

We stepped forward to greet each other.

Zafrina looked at her two companions and exchanged some meaningful glances. "Do you mind if we head back now?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Jasper replied, "and thank you for your help."

"It was lovely to see you again," one of the others said smiling, "I don't suppose we can persuade you to stay a little while longer?" she asked Diego.

"No, but thank you," he replied kindly. "We will visit soon," he promised.

"See you again soon," the third one added.

And then they vanished into the forest with one swift movement, as if they were somehow joined together.

"I don't think they wanted to risk another confrontation with the Volturi," Jasper whispered to me seeing that I was a bit surprised by their sudden disappearance.

"The Volturi?" Hulien asked, obviously hearing Jasper's comment, "and there I was thinking this was the social visit you promised."

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Jasper sighed.

"Are they coming for my father?" Nahuel asked.

Jasper nodded. Alice looked apologetic.

"When?" Nahuel looked unconcerned about his father's safety.

Alice was trying to concentrate ."Not long, a day, maybe two. It is hard to tell. This jungle looks the same all over."

"Do you know where your sisters are?" Jasper asked him.

"Vaguely," Nahuel replied.

"Look," Jasper urged, "We would love to stay and chat with you, but you should make speed and find them. Alice can't see their future. The Volturi are ruthless. We think they will kill your father, but if you can steal your sisters away from him you might just be able to save them. Demetri, the tracker isn't with them. It is just Jane, Alec, Felix and a couple of the guards. If your sisters are not with your father when they get to him, they may not bother to look for them without their specialist tracker."

"Not Aro?" Hulien asked.

"No, not this time. I don't think they are expecting any trouble. Jane will have been given her orders."

"Thanks for this," Nahuel said and he shook hands with Jasper. "We will try and warn them. Aro promised he wouldn't hurt my sisters, but I guess he doesn't always play by the rules."

"No, not exactly," Jasper agreed.

And they too disappeared as quickly as the Amazons had.

"So what are you guys going to do now you have been reunited?" Alice asked cheerily.

"Not sure," Diego acted as out spokesperson. "We haven't had a chance to figure it out yet. There is so much to catch up on," and he looked fondly at me.

"Well, remember what I said, it would be fun if you joined us, and we can give you some help with that diet of yours Fred," Alice smiled. "It will work," she announced, "I have a way of knowing these things."

Jasper raised his eyebrows and grinned, "Yeah, sure, come and join us and I can tell you all about my struggles. I could do with having someone around who can sympathise with me."

"Are you heading back now?" I asked.

"Yeah. We want to get back to the family. Our work is done here." Alice sighed, "I don't want to be away from Renesmee too long or she will have grown another foot!"

"Another foot?" I asked, foolishly imagining a child with three feet.

Alice laughed loudly at my obvious misunderstanding. "No, I mean a foot in height. She has an accelerated growth rate over a human child. She will reach full maturity at the age of about seven or eight. She is like a four year old already, yet only four months old."

Alice looked down and pulled a disgusted face at the mud and green slime that was caked on to the bottom of her trousers. "As much as I would love to see more of Hulien and her nephew, and the Amazons come to that, I really don't think I could bear to spend very long here. Ugh," she said again.

Jasper laughed at her. "We can pick up some new clothes at the airport," he suggested, trying to appease her. It was clear that fashion meant a lot to Alice.

"You are going to catch a plane?" I asked. "A regular plane, with humans?"

"Yes, of course!" Alice replied. She didn't add. "Why not?" but she might as well have. It seemed perfectly natural to her.

I guess it made sense, if you were a Cullen. These sophisticated vampires that played at being human had it all figured out. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. I looked at Fred and he was right really, his idealistic lifestyle could work. I just needed a lot of self-control. But at least Bella was no longer human so a visit to Forks would not be quite so much of a challenge.

Alice beamed, "So, we will see you in Forks then."

I nodded, smiling, "promise."

"Oh it wasn't a question, I already know the answer, I have seen it. You will be very welcome and you'll love it." She hesitated slightly as if recalling her vision and then added, "Don't worry about the wolves, I'll let them know when you are coming. They won't bother you." She looked enormously pleased with herself and hugged all three of us before calling over her shoulder, "Come soon!" and then she flitted off toward the city dragging Jasper along before he had the chance to say goodbye properly. He just held his hand up and waved backwards to us.


End file.
